Laptop

MSI GS66 Stealth offers a 99.9 Wh battery and a 300 Hz display. (Image Source: MSI)

MSI revamps its entire gaming and creative portfolio with Comet Lake-H and RTX 20 Super Mobile options

MSI announced new laptops such as the GS66 Stealth, GE66 Raider, and Creator 17 at CES 2020 and has now detailed their full specifications. MSI is also upgrading the its entire gaming and creative product lineup with the latest Intel 10th gen Comet Lake-H and NVIDIA RTX 20 Super Mobile offerings. All laptops will be available for shipping from April 15.

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 03 Apr 2020 13:03

Remember this Dell XPS 17 from 2011? Hopefully, the XPS 17 9700 will be just as impressive.

Dell XPS 17 9700 listing on Userbenchmark rekindles hope for a true productivity workhorse

Recently, a Dell XPS 17 9700 listing surfaced on Userbenchmark indicating that Dell would finally bring back the 17-inch form factor to the XPS lineup. The XPS 17 9700 in this listing is indicated as being powered by the Core i7-10750H processor and 32 GB of RAM. While there's no discrete GPU mentioned, it is likely that the XPS 17 9700 will feature at least a GTX 1660 Ti or, if Dell is benevolent enough, an RTX 2060 Mobile option as well.

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 03 Apr 2020 05:17

VPN use was found to increase in March 2020. (Source: Flickr)

Global VPN use spiked during March 2020, study finds

Virtual private networks (VPNs) are popular tools among those who want to safeguard their internet usage and the data involved. The sudden and widespread need to work from home has given them a new dimension of necessity, however. Now, their uptake in the US and Canada has reportedly increased 35% in March 2020.

Deirdre O Donnell, 02 Apr 2020 22:14

Xiaomi updates the Mi Band 3 and 4 with a laptop-unlocking function

The Mi Bands 3 and 4 have a new firmware update that fixes several UI-related bugs. It also introduces a first-party notebook-unlocking facility to these fitness trackers. They also now support Apple ID logins for the first time.

Deirdre O Donnell, 02 Apr 2020 19:50

The updated Triton 500 and Nitro 5 lineups will be available this May. (Image Source: Acer)

Acer announces the refreshed Predator Triton 500 and Nitro 5 gaming laptops with Comet Lake-H CPUs

The new Predator Triton 500 models will be powered by i7 and i9 Comet Lake-H CPUs coupled with up to 32 GB of RAM and up to 2 TB of NVMe SSD storage, plus GPU options topping with the RTX 2080 Super Max-Q. The budget-friendly Nitro 5, on the other hand, will be powered by i5/i7 Comet Lake-H CPUs, and will only support GPUs up to the RTX 2060.

Bogdan Solca, 02 Apr 2020 17:49

The new Legion 5i and 7i models will replace the existing Y540 and Y740, respectively. (Image Source: Lenovo)

Lenovo's Legion 5i and 7i gaming laptops include the exclusive Nvidia Advanced Optimus feature for extended battery life

The 7i will most likely be powered by Comet Lake-H Core i7 CPUs and will feature the latest RTX 2000 Super GPUs, while the 5i will pack Comet Lake-H Core i5 CPUs and up to an RTX 2060 GPU. Both variants will get G-Sync displays plus a n exclusive feature developed in collaboration with Nvidia, which allows for a more efficient battery management.

Bogdan Solca, 02 Apr 2020 17:06

The Dell Vostro 15 3590 laptops come with a dedicated numeric keypad. (Image source: Dell)

Deal | Budget business for a bargain: Dell Vostro 15 3590 with i7-10510U and AMD Radeon 610 GPU reduced from US$1,212 to US$699

Dell’s Vostro lineup might be overlooked for better known laptop series such as the Inspiron or XPS, but there are some very attractive deals to be had at the moment, especially if you’re looking for a budget device for a small business. For example, the Vostro 15 3590 with an i5-10210U, 8 GB RAM, and a 256 GB SSD is presently 43% off, cut from US$1,041.43 to US$599.00.

Daniel R Deakin, 02 Apr 2020 14:59

Like Renoir-H, Intel Comet Lake-H will lack an integrated Thunderbolt 3 controller

Intel has detailed its next-gen Core H-series for gaming laptops with SKUs ranging from the quad-core Core i5-10300H to the hexa-core Core i7-10750H and the octa-core Core i9-10980HK. At its heart, however, Comet Lake-H will look familiar to Coffee Lake-H in terms of integrated hardware features.

Allen Ngo, 02 Apr 2020 10:02

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q and 2070 Super Max-Q set to debut on the next Razer Blade 15

As if Nvidia's GeForce RTX lineup couldn't be more convoluted, be prepared for yet another subcategory of GeForce Super GPUs within the existing subcategory of GeForce Max-Q GPUs.

Allen Ngo, 02 Apr 2020 09:02

The Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 laptop will be ideal for esports fans due to its high refresh rates. (Image source: Asus)

The new Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 laptop will grant a gamer's wishes with up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GPU and Intel Core i9-10980HK CPU

Asus has announced the ROG Strix SCAR 17 laptop that can be configured with either an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER or RTX 2080 SUPER mobile GPU and features Intel’s new i9-10980HK processor. The gaming laptop also offers users ROG Boost for additional performance, and it will be configurable with up to a 300 Hz display. Prices start at €1,899 (~US$2,121) in Germany.

Daniel R Deakin, 02 Apr 2020 09:01

Asus announces new ROG Keystone 2

Asus announced the new ROG Keystone 2 today. The device, which is a proprietary NFC key, allows users to easily transfer system and game profiles between supported ROG machines. The Keystone 2 also includes a hidden encrypted storage drive, known as a Shadow Drive.

Sam Medley, 02 Apr 2020 09:01

Gigabyte gives AMD the cold shoulder, updates entire Aorus and Aero lineup with Intel 10th gen Core i7/i9 Comet Lake-H (Source: Aorus)

Gigabyte skips AMD, updates entire Aorus and Aero lineup with Intel 10th gen Core i7/i9 Comet Lake-H

Gigabyte will be "Redefining Gaming Notebooks" as one of the first OEMs out of the gate with Core i7-10750H, Core i7-10875H, and unlocked Core i9-10980HK options later this month. Comparisons to the competing AMD Ryzen 4000 series, which will also be shipping out in the coming weeks, should prove to be interesting.

Allen Ngo, 02 Apr 2020 09:00

2020 Dell XPS 15 9500 could be the full 16:10 redesign we've been looking for to tackle the MacBook Pro 16

The XPS 15 looked great back in 2016, but there's no question that it has grown a bit stale since then. A 16:10 redesign would help revitalize the series and new leaks appear to confirm just that.

Allen Ngo, 01 Apr 2020 20:15

Will we see a redesigned XPS 15 this year, or another XPS 15 9550 rehash? (Image source: Dell)

Discussion | The XPS 15 has grown stale, and UserBenchmark listings for the 2020 edition suggest that Dell is happy with it remaining that way

It seems that Dell has forgotten about the XPS 15. While we continue to award the device top marks year on year, Dell has essentially been releasing minor revisions of the same machine since 2015. Now, several UserBenchmark listings have given us an insight into what Dell has planned for this year's XPS 15, the 9500. Hardware-wise at least, it looks like we are in for another year of Dell flogging a dead horse. There is a flicker of a chassis redesign being on the cards, though.

Alex Alderson, 01 Apr 2020 17:33

Huawei has released its earnings report for 2019. (Source: Huawei)

Huawei reports that it made US$123 billion in 2019

Huawei has released its financial performance report for 2019, which outlines its takings worldwide from all its business, consumer electronics included. They show that overall revenues have increased year-on-year (YoY). However, the growth of its profits did not match those of previous years.

Deirdre O Donnell, 01 Apr 2020 16:56

The AMD Ryzen 7 4800H is targeted at users interested in content creation or gaming. (Image source: AMD)

HP Pavilion 24 All-in-One PC with AMD Ryzen 7 4800H shows multicore strength in Geekbench compared to the new Acer ConceptD 9 Pro with Intel Core i9-9980HK

An HP Pavilion 24 All-in-One PC with an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H APU inside it has been spotted being tested on Geekbench 5.1, where it managed a good single-core result and unsurprisingly a very strong multi-core score. The latter result was higher than what the Intel Core i9-9980HK amassed when we tested it as part of a new Acer ConceptD 9 Pro workstation.

Daniel R Deakin, 01 Apr 2020 10:58

PSA: Update your Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon BIOS or recharging can take almost 6 full hours

PSA: Update your Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon BIOS or be prepared to wait 6 hours for a full charge

The latest BIOS and Thunderbolt firmware update as of March 2 fixes the battery recharge rate of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. If purchasing a unit from a reseller, the system may be outdated and in need of a manual update.

Allen Ngo, 31 Mar 2020 23:29

Rare GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q launches amidst the storm of AMD Renoir announcements

Quietly unveiled at CES 2020, the GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q has made its retail debut a full year later than its Turing Max-Q siblings. It remains to be seen how OEMs will adopt the GPU as it performs quite closely to the GTX 1660 Ti but with the added benefit of RT and tensor cores.

Allen Ngo, 31 Mar 2020 18:30

The more affordable Apex 15 variants can be equipped with the Ryzen 5 3600 CPU and an RTX 2060 GPU. (Image Source: Schenker)

Schenker's XMG Apex 15 is the world's first Ryzen 9 3950X laptop

Users can choose to equip the XMG Apex 15 with more down-to-earth specs like a Ryzen 3600 CPU, 8 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, 256 GB SATA 3 SSD and an RTX 2060, or could go all in with specs including the Ryzen 9 3950X, up to 64 GB of RAM, up to 6 TB of storage and an RTX 2070 GPU. Unlike similar Intel desktop-replacement models, these AMD laptops are a fair bit lighter and require less power.

Bogdan Solca, 31 Mar 2020 17:13

MSI is refreshing the Bravo gaming laptop lineup with Ryzen 4000 APU options. (Image Source: MSI)

Two Ryzen 4000 MSI gaming laptops you can pre-order right now for under US$1,000

The Ryzen 5 4600H model comes with 8 GB of RAM, while the Ryzen 7 4800H gets 16 GB. This difference will only set you back US$70. Both variants include 15.6-inch 1080p IPS displays with 120 Hz refresh rate, Radeon RX 5500M 4 GB VRAM dGPUs, and 512 GB NVMe storage. These are available for pre-order at Newegg and will start shipping in late April.

Bogdan Solca, 31 Mar 2020 15:07

Radeon Adrenalin 2020 drivers now support Intel Kaby Lake-G.

After a year long wait, Kaby Lake-G finally gets a driver update... from AMD

After being left in the lurch for nearly 12 months, owners of the ill-fated Intel Kaby Lake-G platform finally get some respite not from Intel but from AMD. AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 drivers can now be used to update Kaby Lake-G graphics drivers. At last, Kaby Lake-G owners can now have access to day 0 game support and critical bug fixes, which they have been deprived of all these months.

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 31 Mar 2020 10:37

Acer Aspire 5 and Swift 3 are getting 7 nm AMD Ryzen 5 4500U and Ryzen 7 4700U options this Summer

We can't wait to compare the 10 nm Intel Ice Lake Aspire 5 and Swift 3 models to the upcoming 7 nm AMD Ryzen alternatives. The mid-range Ryzen 5 should just as well or better than a Core i7 for a lower starting price.

Allen Ngo, 31 Mar 2020 00:00

The new Jabra Evolve2 series. (Source: Jabra)

Jabra launches the Evolve2 enterprise-grade headsets

Jabra has announced new editions to its collaboration- and co-working-focused Evolve series of headsets. They are compatible with the Unified Communications (UC) platforms typically used in offices, and may block a greater degree of distractions with new Digital Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) features.

Deirdre O Donnell, 30 Mar 2020 21:07

AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS is faster than every mobile Intel Core i9 laptop in the market today according to our own benchmarks

We compare the new 7 nm AMD CPU to at least 17 different Intel laptops equipped with a 14 nm mobile Core i9 CPU and AMD almost always comes out on top. Coffee Lake-H will be behind the curve in just a few short months if AMD can maintain this performance lead across multiple OEMs.

Allen Ngo, 30 Mar 2020 17:46

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook coming to the US early April 2020

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook coming to the US next Monday

This Intel Core i5-10210U-driven high-end Chromebook that was unveiled three months ago is finally coming to the US via Best Buy and Samsung's online store. Priced at US$999, the Galaxy Chromebook has a flip-and-fold design and its most attractive feature is the 4K Super AMOLED touchscreen with S Pen support.

Codrut Nistor, 30 Mar 2020 15:58

The Astro Slide smartphone and pocket computer hybrid weighs around 300 g. (Image source: Indiegogo)

Formidable Astro Slide 5G smartphone and pocket computer hybrid with meteoric MediaTek Dimensity 1000 chipset streaks past its Indiegogo goal in hours

Planet Computers has only just announced the Astro Slide 5G smartphone and pocket computer hybrid on Twitter and its Indiegogo campaign has already received more backing than the original goal. The Astro Slide is brimming with attractive features, including its transforming ability, super-fast MediaTek Dimensity 1000 chipset, full backlit keyboard, Wi-Fi 6 capability, and 48 MP main camera.

Daniel R Deakin, 30 Mar 2020 14:14

Hearthstone Laptop Benchmarks

Enjoyable card game. Even though Hearthstone has low system requirements, there are still laptops out there that cannot run the game smoothly. In our performance analysis we try to find out what the absolute minimum system requirements are.

Klaus Hinum, 30 Mar 2020 11:47

What new Surface device is hiding behind this UserBenchmark listing? (Image source: Microsoft)

Ice Lake Microsoft Surface device powered by an Intel Core i5-1035G1, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD spotted on UserBenchmark

A new Surface device has appeared on UserBenchmark, which could well be a new product altogether. The Ice Lake-powered device has a 3:2 display, 16 GB of dual-channel LPDDR4 RAM and the same SSD found in the Surface Laptop 3 and Surface Pro X. Its processor has us scratching our heads, though.

Alex Alderson, 29 Mar 2020 23:55

The 4800H-powered TUF gaming laptop is selling for just US$1199 (Image source: Amazon)

Amazon has world's cheapest AMD Ryzen 7 4800H and RTX 2060-powered Asus laptop for pre-order at an incredible US$1199

Amazon recently put up an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H and RTX 2060-powered Asus TUF Gaming laptop for the remarkable price of US$1199. This undercuts i7-9750H notebooks and delivers incredible value in the sub-US$1500 price bracket.

Arjun Krishna Lal, 29 Mar 2020 13:36

The i7-10875H sports eight cores and sixteen threads (Image source: Intel)

AMD Ryzen 7 4800H forces Intel to build 8-core i7-10875H: scores 8369 in leaked Geekbench listing

Intel was spotted prepping the eight-core sixteen-thread i7-10875H, most likely in response to AMD's Ryzen 7 4800H. The Comet Lake part effectively renders both the i7-9750H and i9-9980H redundant. Success or failure, however, depend on pricing relative to the Ryzen competition.

Arjun Krishna Lal, 29 Mar 2020 13:09

Logic Pro X gets a free three-month trial. (Source: Apple)

Apple Logic Pro X and Final Cut Pro X go free to use for 90 days

Apple is giving creative pros and others the opportunity to use the full versions of Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro X to users for 90 days. Final Cut Pro X had previously been available for a 1-month trial period while this is the first time users have ever been able to give Logic Pro X a trial before buying.

Sanjiv Sathiah, 29 Mar 2020 10:47

The Acer Chromebook 715 is a premium, but expensive, Chromebook. (Image via Acer)

Acer Chromebook 715: Chrome OS comes of age

The Acer Chromebook 715 is a well-crafted Chromebook that offers one of the best Chrome OS experiences on the market. In addition to an excellent case, the Chromebook also flaunts the new features of Chrome OS. Linux and Android integration are smooth and easy on the machine. However, a high price tag ultimately holds the machine back from a recommendation.

Sam Medley, 29 Mar 2020 00:05

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 with laughable 4 GB RAM on sale for $599 (Image source: Best Buy)

Deal | Microsoft Surface Pro 7 with laughable 4 GB RAM on sale for $599

It's 2020 and high-end Windows PCs are still shipping with 4 GB of RAM for some reason. Do yourself a favor and avoid this one if you intend to do more than just web browsing with a few open tabs.

Allen Ngo, 28 Mar 2020 21:05

The entry-level RTX 2060 Asus laptops offer tremendous value (Image source: Amazon.com)

AMD Ryzen 7 4800H laptops with RTX 2060 being sold in China right now at under US$1000: priced to compete with Intel 9th gen i5s

Chinese electronics retailer jd.com is already selling Renoir Ryzen 7 4800H-equipped laptops in China. The Asus laptops are retailing for less than US$1000 for RTX 2060/4800H configurations, a remarkable value.

Arjun Krishna Lal, 28 Mar 2020 11:58

The Ryzen 4000 laptop from Asus also comes with 16 GB RAM and a 1 TB PCIe SSD. (Image source: Asus)

AMD Ryzen 7 4800H APU offers desktop CPU-like performance on Cinebench R15 in combination with Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 inside an Asus TUF Gaming laptop

An Asus TUF Gaming laptop has been put through its paces on Cinebench R15 utilizing the power of its AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor and its Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU. The new 8-core Renoir chip scored 1,743 points, which puts it not too far behind the Ryzen 7 2700X. The latter is a fast desktop processor that scored 1,801 points in our tests.

Daniel R Deakin, 28 Mar 2020 10:24

We compare dozens of laptops with the same GeForce MX150 GPU and the Razer Blade Stealth comes out on top

The performance difference between the slowest and fastest GeForce MX150 laptops is startling at roughly 60 percent. The Blade Stealth GeForce MX150 is essentially on par with the more expensive GeForce MX250.

Allen Ngo, 28 Mar 2020 04:21

Apple: Retina Macbook Air suffers from the staingate problem

The staingate has plagued Apple's laptops for years. Now the manufacturer has confirmed that yet another newer Macbook is exhibiting this problem: The Macbook Air with Retina screen does sometimes develop the typical staingate symptoms.

Benjamin Herzig, 28 Mar 2020 00:48

Control has been added to GeForce NOW. (Source: NVIDIA)

NVIDIA's GeForce NOW to get new games every week

GeForce NOW is NVIDIA's cloud-gaming service. Its streaming library may be bolstered by a new announcement that it will have new titles added by the week going forward. The first batch debuted as a result of this initiative includes Epic Games' Control.

Deirdre O Donnell, 27 Mar 2020 22:10

Dell XPS 13 9300 Core i5 vs. Dell XPS 13 9300 Core i7: What's the Difference?

Everyone likes to compare the XPS 13 to the Razer Blade Stealth, MacBook Pro 13, HP Spectre 13, or the Asus ZenBook S13, but how does the latest Dell Ultrabook compare to itself?

Allen Ngo, 27 Mar 2020 19:49