Laptop

Lenovo IdeaPad C340 convertible coming with AMD Ryzen 3200U, 3500U, and 3700U options (Source: Lenovo)

MWC19 | AMD Zen+ Ryzen 3200U, 3500U, and 3700U will debut on the Lenovo IdeaPad C340 convertible series

The upcoming mainstream Lenovo IdeaPad C340 family will be one of the first to offer Zen+ Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, and Ryzen 7 processor options that were initially unveiled at CES 2019. The AMD options should be comparable to Intel Whis...

Allen Ngo, 25 Feb 2019 00:01

Lenovo IdeaPad S340 and S540 will carry separate GeForce MX250 and Radeon RX Vega 10 graphics

MWC19 | Lenovo IdeaPad S340 and S540 with AMD Ryzen Zen+ will undercut the Intel SKU by $150 USD

The affordable IdeaPad S340 and S540 series will carry GeForce MX250 and Radeon RX Vega 10 options when they launch in the next couple of months. The AMD-based IdeaPad S540 SKU in particular will retail for $730 compared to $880 f...

Allen Ngo, 25 Feb 2019 00:01

Lenovo ThinkPad X390 & X390 Yoga: Smallest ThinkPads now with 13.3 inch instead of 12.5 inch LCDs

MWC19 | Lenovo ThinkPad X390 & X390 Yoga: Smallest ThinkPads now with 13.3 instead of 12.5 inch LCDs

Aside from the larger ThinkPads of the T series, Lenovo has announced two compact models of the X series as well. The Thinkpad X390 has a bigger display with a much smaller screen bezel than its predecessor, while the ThinkPad X39...

Benjamin Herzig, 25 Feb 2019 00:01

A GeForce GTX 1660 Ti equivalent GPU should be coming soon for laptops (Image source: Nvidia)

A GeForce GTX 1660 Ti equivalent or GTX 1050 Ti successor should be coming soon for laptops

Now that the RT-free and AI-free GTX 1660 Ti GPU is out for desktops, it's only a matter of time before a similar option becomes available for laptops. An unannounced Nvidia "N18E-G0" GPU is looking more like the inevitable GTX 10...

Allen Ngo, 24 Feb 2019 21:29

According to a new report, smartphones are now the most popular form of consumer tech. (Source: YouTube)

Smartphones account for 59% of all spending on consumer electronics in 2018: tech author

Jim Harris, an author and speaker on disruptive innovations, has released a new report on consumer tech ahead of MWC 2019. In it, he claims that 59% of all the money spent in the same market in 2018 was expended on smartphones. Ha...

Deirdre O Donnell, 24 Feb 2019 14:42

MWC19 | Huawei MateBook X Pro is finally getting the Whiskey Lake-U treatment

After a full year with the MateBook X Pro, it's about time we get a small refresh. Huawei has unveiled the third generation MateBook X laptop that fixes almost everything we didn't like about the 2018 model including the Thunderbo...

Allen Ngo, 24 Feb 2019 14:30

MWC19 | Upcoming Huawei MateBook 14 will carry GeForce MX250 graphics and be thinner than the Dell XPS 13

Huawei is marketing its new 14-inch Ultrabook as a mainstream offering, but its sleek design and high-end specifications say otherwise. Expect it to be available by this Summer in the United States for a lower starting price than ...

Allen Ngo, 24 Feb 2019 14:30

The top-end Alienware Area-51m laptop costs over US$5000. (Source: Dell)

Alienware Area-51m laptops configured with an RTX 2080 will receive power-boosting BIOS in April

XPS and Alienware chief Frank Azor has announced on Twitter that Alienware Area-51m RTX 2080 laptops will soon be receiving a 200 W BIOS update. The Dell executive also stated that the company is aiming for an April release for th...

Daniel R Deakin, 24 Feb 2019 08:30

Buying a Dell XPS 13? We recommend checking for coil whine

Our Dell XPS 13 9380 test unit suffers from high-pitched coil whine that may potentially be a nuisance during regular use. The phenomenon is not damaging to the machine, but its intensity and volume may vary between different unit...

Allen Ngo, 23 Feb 2019 21:05

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga. (Source: B&H)

Leaked Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga and ThinkPad X1 Carbon datasheets signal a June launch for Intel Ice Lake

Lenovo could be joining Dell in offering Intel Ice Lake laptops as soon as June this year. Leaked datasheets for the ThinkPad X1 Yoga and ThinkPad X1 Carbon detail the inclusion of Core i5 and Core i7 Ice Lake processor options. T...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 23 Feb 2019 03:44

Intel Gen11 raises the bar for integrated graphics. (Source: Intel)

Intel Gen11 GT2 GPU outperforms the Vega 10 and closes in on the Vega 11 in leaked benchmarks

GFXBench results of Intel's upcoming Gen11 GT2 graphics have leaked online and the scores seem to be pretty impressive. The Ice Lake Gen11 GT2 is a significant improvement over Skylake's GT9 and promises 1 TFLOP GPU performance fo...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 23 Feb 2019 01:56

Our Core i9 verdict: It’s just not worth it on laptops

With almost a dozen Core i9-8950HK laptops under our belt, we have a pretty good idea about how these unlocked CPUs can perform. Average CPU performance is just 8 to 9 percent faster than the average Core i7-8750H laptop for a dis...

Allen Ngo, 22 Feb 2019 18:46

Xbox One games may become available on the Switch. (Source: Nintendo Enthusiast)

Nintendo Switch may gain ability to use Xbox features, including Game Passes, soon

A YouTuber has asserted that Microsoft will port some games and features to the Nintendo Switch later this year. The indie title Ori has been specifically named in relation to this new purported deal to link the two platforms. Thi...

Deirdre O Donnell, 22 Feb 2019 16:46

Adobe is offering a limited-time discount on individual Creative Cloud Plans

Adobe is offering a discount on the prices of all-app Creative Cloud (CC) plans. This offer applies to monthly-paid prices for CC and CC plus Adobe Stock plans only, and drops them to US$39.99 and $69.98 respectively. It is valid ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 22 Feb 2019 16:20

Windows 20H1, not 19H2, is being tested now. (Source: Microsoft)

Microsoft starts developing Windows 20H1 ahead of 19H2

Microsoft's next probable major software release is 19H2, the April 2019 update. However, a build associated with a release in 2020 is the one that has most recently popped up for users in the Skip Ahead program. Despite this, the...

Deirdre O Donnell, 22 Feb 2019 15:56

The Acer Swift 3 is now available with NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics. (Source: Laptopmain)

Acer now offering the Swift 3 with NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics

Acer has upgraded its Swift 3 offering to feature the new NVIDIA GeForce MX250 GPU. The rest of the specifications remain more or less the same. The MX250 is, for all intents and purposes, a re-badged version of the MX150 with sli...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 22 Feb 2019 12:23

The Eve V (Image source: Eve Technology)

Eve V: Secret 24-hour flash sale now on

A flash sale is now on for the Eve V, but only until 13:00 GMT tomorrow. The Eve V has been plagued with delays, but Eve Technology ensures that the Surface alternative is in stock and will ship in 2-4 working days.

Alex Alderson, 21 Feb 2019 22:00

TSMC is looking at US$550 million losses, but these should be reduced to around US$220 million with a Q2 production ramp up. (Source: TechSpot)

TSMC reveals details on Fab 14B production incident, estimates considerable losses

It took TSMC a little over two weeks to fully assess the consequences of the Fab 14B incident. Apparently, the chemical contamination was triggered by an abnormal reaction in the photoresistant material that led to a polymer resid...

Bogdan Solca, 21 Feb 2019 21:36

Lioncast LM60: An RGB gaming mouse and a high-resolution optical sensor for US$80

Lioncast is a comparatively new manufacturer, but that has not stopped it from expanding its range of mice. The company has now released the LM60, a wired mouse with RGB lighting and a high-resolution optical sensor. Perhaps unsur...

Alex Alderson, 21 Feb 2019 17:56

The new fabs will be located south of Seoul. (Source: SK Hynix/Korea Times)

SK Hynix planning enormous US$107 billion semiconductor fab investment

Reuters has reported that the South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix is planning on investing 120 trillion won (~US$106.6 billion) on chip manufacturing plants. The company will also spend an additional 55 trillion won (US$49 billion) on...

Daniel R Deakin, 21 Feb 2019 08:57

Lenovo ThinkPad 2019 leak: Data-sheets of the redesigned ThinkPads T490, T490s & T590 have been leaked

Lenovo's ThinkPad division gets hit by another leak, as a reddit user has published data-sheets for most of the upcoming ThinkPad business laptops. Though there is no way to verify the specs at this point, the specs of the T490 do...

Benjamin Herzig, 21 Feb 2019 03:29

The end of 2019 could bring halved prices for consumer DRAM modules. (Source: PCGamesN)

RAM prices to see 30% cuts in the next few months

Ever since the Chinese government started to investigate memory chip suppliers over suspicious price fixing schemes, DRAM module prices started to slowly decline, and it looks like prices could get reduced by 30% in Q2 2019. By th...

Bogdan Solca, 20 Feb 2019 20:45

We benchmark the cheapest GeForce RTX laptop on Newegg and performance is better than a GTX 1070 Max-Q

We benchmark the cheapest RTX laptop on Newegg and performance is better than a GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q

The MSI GL73 with RTX 2060 graphics begins to shine when gaming at higher resolutions beyond 1080p and with DirectX 12 active. Otherwise, users can get the same performance or better out of an older GTX 1070 laptop for lower price...

Allen Ngo, 18 Feb 2019 19:44

Intel 9th gen H-series CPUs are expected to launch in Q2 2019. (Source: Gameaxis)

Details of the Intel 9th gen H-series CPUs emerge, Core i9-9980HK to be the flagship SKU

An Intel export compliance metrics document has listed the new 9th gen H-series processors for laptops. These CPUs include the Core i5-9300H all the way to the Core i9-9980HK. The 9th gen H-series CPUs are not official yet and Int...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 18 Feb 2019 09:32

Science Channel shows how a Gigabyte Aero 15 laptop is made

Watch a quick 5-minute video following the production, assembly, and diagnostics of the Gigabyte laptop from start to finish.

Allen Ngo, 18 Feb 2019 06:33

The average Whiskey Lake-U laptop is just 8 percent faster than Kaby Lake-R

After testing more than 20 laptops with Whiskey Lake-U processors, the raw gen-to-gen performance advantage looks to be one of the smallest in recent years. If you own a Kaby Lake-R laptop, it may be best to hold off on buying a r...

Allen Ngo, 17 Feb 2019 04:14

Acer has released slightly disappointing early-year financials. (Source: Acer)

Acer has announced its financial report for January 2019

Acer has released a report in which it puts its January 2019 revenues at about US$540 million. These figures have decreased by 23.7% compared to December 2018 and by 1.3% compared to January 2018. The company has cited the ongoing...

Deirdre O Donnell, 16 Feb 2019 17:54

Unity could unleash its ray-tracing potential soon. (Source: Unity)

NVIDIA CEO may have spoiled Unity Engine's ray-tracing support announcement

NVIDIA's CEO, Jensen Huang, referenced both Unreal and Unity Engines in relation to ray-tracing during a company conference call about its fourth-quarter earnings conducted this week. That is odd, however, as only Unreal has ray-t...

Deirdre O Donnell, 15 Feb 2019 19:24

Alienware m15: Dell announces a new configuration with a Core i9-8950HK, an RTX 2080 Max-Q and a 144 Hz display

Dell has responded to a suggestion on Twitter and has announced a new top-tier version of the Alienware m15. The Core i9-8950HK, RTX 2080 Max-Q and 144 Hz model costs US$3,279, but you must do some digging to find it on the Dell U...

Alex Alderson, 15 Feb 2019 15:48

MSI G Series consists of seven laptop tiers; we go over each one here (Image source: MSI)

The MSI G Series consists of seven laptop tiers; we go over each one here

GV, GF, GL, GP, GE, GS, GT... what do they all mean? If you're in the market for an MSI laptop, here's a 101 on the entire G Series from budget all the way up to enthusiast.

Allen Ngo, 15 Feb 2019 02:29

The new ASUS TUF Gaming series with Ryzen 3000. (Source: ASUS)

ASUS has unleashed the first laptops with Ryzen 3000

One variant of the new Ryzen 3000 mobile CPU series, the 3550H, has been launched in the form of the ASUS TUF Gaming FX505 and FX507 notebooks. They are 15- and 17-inch laptops, respectively, both of which feature 4GB of inbuilt R...

Deirdre O Donnell, 14 Feb 2019 22:16

The apparent NVIDIA TU116 GPU. (Source: Videocardz)

This is how the new NVIDIA TU116 GPU may look

The existence of the TU116 GPU, which exists to deliver Turing-level performance without ray-tracing, has been established at this stage. Today (February 14, 2019), VideoCardz has posted what it describes as exclusive images of th...

Deirdre O Donnell, 14 Feb 2019 20:18

Asus ZenBook 15 vs. Dell XPS 15: Still not enough to dethrone Dell

Asus ZenBook 15 vs. Dell XPS 15: Still not enough to dethrone the popular 15-inch king

The bestselling Dell XPS laptop manages to be faster, tougher, brighter, and more feature-packed than the new competing Asus ZenBook 15 without running any louder or shorter. In return, the Asus laptop is much lighter and even a b...

Allen Ngo, 14 Feb 2019 04:57

The Microsoft Surface Pen. (Credit: Neowin)

New Microsoft patent may reduce inadequacies in next-gen Surface Pen

The Surface Pen is Microsoft's answer to the Apple Pencil. It has been described as an effective stylus, albeit one that could produce more accurate digital writing. A new patent may help improve on this with changes to both the P...

Deirdre O Donnell, 13 Feb 2019 18:27

Dell Inspiron, XPS, Vostro, and Alienware systems are all on sale for President's Day (Source: Dell)

Dell XPS, Inspiron, Precision, and Alienware systems are all on sale for President's Day

Get the XPS 13 9370 with 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB SSD, and a Core i7-8550U CPU for $1175 USD. Deals will last until early next week in an attempt to clear out older stock and make room for newer models.

Allen Ngo, 13 Feb 2019 06:09

Lenovo ThinkPad T490 announced as special healthcare edition

Lenovo ThinkPad T490 laptop announced as special healthcare edition

Lenovo has announced the first T series ThinkPad of 2019. The Lenovo ThinkPad T490, the "bread-and-butter" model of the series, has been announced today as a special edition for the healthcare sector.

Benjamin Herzig, 12 Feb 2019 14:07