Laptop

Pine64, a Chinese company known for its single-board computers, has delivered a video update of the upcoming Pinebook Pro laptop. The manufacturer seems to be working out some teething problems with the 14-inch device, but it is still expected to be released within the next few months at a budget price point of around US$200.

Waiting for Google Stadia to finally launch? Help beta test GeForce Now in the meantime. The Nvidia game streaming service has yet to reach gold status even after all these years, but here's your chance to try it out and see what game streaming has to offer.

Those who use the latest version of Firefox (66.6) may have noticed that their usual extensions have disappeared. This is due to a bug in this browser in which an expired certificate gives the impression that all of these add-ons are corrupt. Mozilla has stated that a fix is being rolled out at present.

Newegg pre-orders are already sold out with a new expected ship date of May 27. Best Buy, however, is still in stock albeit at a higher starting price of $1200 USD.

The re-badged 25 W MX250 offers almost no performance benefits over the 25 W MX150. If jumping from the 10 W MX150 to the 25 W MX250 or 25 W MX150, however, then expect a performance boost of about 30 percent. Save your wallet and get essentially the same GPU performance from an older MX150 laptop instead of a newer MX250 laptop.

The next Windows 10 update, May 2019 (or 1903) is becoming available via early-access programs run by its maker. However, Microsoft is also still maintaining the current general build, 1809. This version of the OS now has a new patch that may fix a whole raft of issues.

Reviewers and GPU aficionados have previously observed that there are two "classes" of the dies that make up NVIDIA RTX cards. They are essentially the TU10x-xxxA and TUx-xxx chips, the "A"s of which are approved for factory overclocking. However, new variants of the same dies negate this dichotomy.

A new device from the manufacturer of the Topjoy Falcon pocket notebook has been spotted at the 2019 Global Sources Electronics Fair. The apparent second-generation Topjoy Falcon has received an Amber Lake-Y upgrade to its predecessor’s Gemini Lake N5000 CPU, which will help it compete against rival mini-laptops such as the upcoming GPD Pocket 2 Max.

The new ThinkBook S models may replace the 13 and 14-inch Ideapad S-series models, at least in China. They appear to have updated designs with improved metal chassis, slim lateral bezels and displays that can unfold flat on the table, while the specs include Intel Core i7-8565U CPUs, up to 16 HB RAM and up to 512 GB NVMe SSDs. The more expensive variants may integrate discrete AMD Radeon 540X GPUs.

Leaked documents providing information about upcoming Dell Precision laptops have revealed that Nvidia will be releasing mobile versions of its Quadro RTX graphics cards. It has been planned that the Dell Precision 7540 and 7740 workstations can be configured with the new high-end graphics solutions to work alongside their 9th Gen Intel Core CPUs.

The quirky approach is becoming increasingly unnecessary. Webcam kill switches, webcam sliders, and newer webcam components designed specifically for narrow display bezels as found on the latest laptops offer the same benefits as Huawei's pop-up webcam without impacting camera angle.

Dell XPS boss Frank Azor has revealed that the next iteration of the XPS 15 laptop will have its webcam located on the top bezel. Many XPS 15 9570 owners have complained about the location of the camera under the Dell logo on the bottom bezel of their laptops, which effectively turned the webcam into a “nosecam”.

Ever wanted an XPS 13 but found its screen too small and graphics too slow? The Asus ZenBook S13 UX392FN offers a larger display and much more powerful GPU while being lighter and almost the same size as the Dell equivalent for about the same price.

The Universal Windows Platform created for the Microsoft Store apps could soon be ditched, as Microsoft already discontinued support for its Windows Phone devices. App developers are reluctant to create programs for his platform, since it is much easier to program apps for Android, iOS and even Windows through regular win32 code. Microsoft may completely remove the apps and keep only the games, music and video section.

Vade Secure is an email-security company that produces a series of reports called "Phisher's Favorites". The 2019 first-quarter (1Q2019) issue shows that the targeting of social media by this kind of hacker has increased by 74.7% compared to 1Q2018. Facebook and Instagram are prominent example of the sites in question.

The Recon 70 headset already exists for the Nintendo Switch; now, Turtle Beach has released variants of the same that are compatible with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The headphones have faux-leather cups over 40mm drivers, complemented by the OEM's flip-up mic.

HP is currently running a sale on the numerous business and consumer laptops until May 5. One of the highlights is the EliteBook x360 1040 G5, which the company has reduced by up to US$2,009. The Chromebook x360 14 G1 is another good deal too with US$600 off its retail price.

The company behind the crowdfunded laptop shell still has its order page live, despite admitting privately to backers that it has run out of money with potentially thousands of orders still unfulfilled.

The latest BIOS updates (version 1.4.0 and above) to the Dell XPS 15 9575 2-in-1 have become a cause for concern as they seem to render the keyboard and touchpad unresponsive whenever a user tries to login to the Linux desktop environment. Those who have filed this bug have confirmed that this is indeed a BIOS issue as the problem was resolved upon downgrading to the older 1.2.0 BIOS version.

Intel will also be handing out $20 gift cards to GMG and promo codes for 10 percent off Origin laptops to select entrants. Winners will be announced every week for the next three weeks when the contest will finally close.

Dell may have just fixed the device's DPC-related latency issues, but the popular 15.6-inch laptop is still plagued by other problems that the company has failed, or refuses, to fix.

If you're a CAD student, medical researcher, or video editor in need of some serious horsepower for your schoolwork, then a simple Ultrabook just isn't going to cut it. The new Eurocom program will run all year long for high school students, recent graduates, and their families who want a high-power laptop fit for 3D rendering and CAD work.

Xbox chief Phil Spencer announced that Project xCloud has already entered the "take Home" stage, so more Xbox employees can test the game streaming service. Public testing for this service should become available some time after E3 this year. The service is similar to Google's Stadia, but Microsoft claims it will have a larger game portfolio.

The announced OLED panel update for the Dell XPS 15 has already been delayed since March, and it now looks like those hoping for this display type on this particular performance laptop will have to wait even longer before making a purchase. However, there are signs that Dell could finally deliver the much-requested display option in June.

These affordable Precision laptops will carry a very wide range of processor options from a U-class Core i5-8265U up to an H-class Core i9-9880H. GPU options, however, will be limited to the Quadro P620 and the older Radeon Pro WX 2100. Wi-Fi 6, fingerprint reader, smart card reader, and IR camera are optional extras.

Dell is jumping from the Latitude 7390 and 7490 to the Latitude 7300 and 7400, respectively, for the 2019 refresh. These new models will be slightly thinner than before with Whiskey Lake-U CPUs and vPro in contrast to the Kaby Lake-R SKUs on last year's models.

The updated mid-range business laptops all get Whiskey Lake-U CPUs with H-class Core options on select SKUs. The new chassis designs are lighter and smaller than the last generation Latitude 7390, 7490, and 7590.

The new 13.3-inch Latitude 5300 series will offer a larger screen size than the 12.5-inch Latitude 5290 series while being thinner, lighter, and smaller due to having narrower bezels. It's likely that Dell will put the 5290 series on hold or even discontinue it altogether because of this reason.

The business-centric Vostro laptops offer single-sign on fingerprint reader, TPM 2.0, and a wide range of Dell Pro Support protection options. The new laptops themselves borrow the narrow-bezel design features of the XPS 13 and 15 lineup to better appeal to on-the-go business users.

The Latitude 3301 will succeed the Latitude 3000 designed for educational use and undemanding office tasks. The 13.3-inch laptop is joined by larger 14-inch and 15.6-inch models all launching this May.

The Pigs have flown, Hell hath frozen over. Dell has finally released a new BIOS for the XPS 15 9570 specifically to address the device's DPC latency issues. It would not be an XPS 15 fix without some unintended problems though, right?

An image of a mock-up of a GPD Win Max handheld gaming PC has been shared on Reddit, drawing out a mixed response from redditors. The picture shows a printed cut-out that has been placed on top of a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop to give an idea of the Win Max’s dimensions. A list of rumored specifications has also been posted online.

An alleged Dell roadmap showing XPS laptops in shipping, development, and concept stages has been acquired by the Dutch technology website Tweakers. The roadmap is dated from February 2018 and includes concept ideas for computers such as the XPS 15 7500 “Fiorano”, the XPS 17 7700 “Stradale”, and a dual-screen machine with the codename “Maximus”.

NVMe SSD and mobile storage prices are at an all-time low due to NAND memory oversupplies, and, even though this greatly benefits end users, chip makers are concerned about a possible market crash. In order to avoid such complications, Intel, Micron, SK Hynix, and possibly even Samsung are looking to reduce legacy node production and overall wafer output.

Lenovo will be offering its IdeaPad S540 laptop with a new discrete graphics card option in the form of Nvidia’s recently released mobile GeForce GTX 1650. It was previously expected that the S540-15IWL model would come with discrete GPU choices of either a GeForce GTX 1050 or MX250 graphics solution.

Intel's new chief executive officer (CEO), Bob Swan, has conceded that the company's "supply constraints" may still impact on the diversity of the chipsets it offers as this year goes on. Swan has admitted that this will be a "challenge", even in the 3rd quarter of 2019. Then again, he has also committed to never allowing this to affect customers again.

An eagle-eyed Redditor spotted GPD's latest upcoming mini-laptop at the ICEE in Moscow, called the Pocket 2 Max. The 8.9-inch laptop will arrive in Q2-Q3 and will come with a Core m3-8100Y processor along with up to 16 GB RAM and a 1 TB PCIe NVMe SSD. It even has a trackpad and a fingerprint scanner too.

It’s been reported that Dell’s powerful Alienware Area-51m gaming laptops will not be receiving panel upgrades to 240 Hz in 2019. More and more OEMs are turning to this particular refresh rate as a major selling point for updated notebooks, but it seems the Alienware Area-51m will be stuck at a maximum of 144 Hz for the time being.

The company has revealed that it has no plans to introduce a GTX 1660 Ti with its XPS 15 refresh, nor will it release a white version either as it has with recent XPS 13 models. The new XPS 15 will come with a GTX 1650 though, Frank Azor confirms.

A list of purported Comet Lake CPUs has surfaced online and in addition to the U-series, we are getting to see a new G-series as well. The target segment of Comet Lake G is still unclear, but Intel is introducing a 6C/12T part in the U-series that is expected to succeed the current Whiskey Lake-U generation. The base clocks seem to be low but there is good turbo boost potential with Intel even indicating the attainable boosts based on core counts.

The device-diagnostics company Blancco claims to have bought over 100 second-hand hard drives on the eBay sites of 4 different counties, to see what data, if any, could be accessed on them. It claims that 42% of these drives still stored information from their previous owners that can be thought of as sensitive.