Laptop

Asus has announced a new addition to its VivoBook line-up: The VivoBook 14 (X420). The laptop has a reported 87% screen-to-body ratio, measures 322.4 x 210 x 17.77 mm and it weighs just 1.4 kg. The device can be supplied with up to an eighth-generation Intel Core i7 CPU and a SATA III SSD offering 128 GB to 512 GB of storage.

Get the Spectre x360 13t for just $850 USD while it lasts. The convertible has apparently become HP's "#1 selling Spectre" while the "top seller" is the last generation budget AMD-powered HP 15z for only $320 USD.

Dell has denied that there are any BIOS related GPU issues with XPS 15 9570 laptops, the company has informed us. Despite providing the company with data and numerous online posts demonstrating otherwise, it has not been able to determine what is causing some NVIDIA GPUs to throttle until reaching 48 °C/118 °F.

It's a bit larger and heavier, but the HP convertible is the more versatile option especially in regard to its integrated 4G LTE Cat. 16 connectivity. The leather casing and brown colors fit perfectly in a coffee shop setting.

AMD posted a response to a common complaint from Ryzen-based laptop users on Reddit earlier this week, stating that the company would better support graphics drivers for Ryzen laptops starting in 2019. However, AMD plans to work with laptop OEMs and depend on them to release device-specific graphics drivers twice a year. The response garnered further criticisms of what many see as a lazy blame-shifting solution.

Razer has opened its subscriber sale to all comers through this weekend. Deals include the original Razer Phone for $300 off ($400 total price) and the Razer Blade Pro 17 (7700HQ, 1060, FHD) for $500 off ($1800 total price).

Whiskey Lake-U doesn't offer much in terms of performance enhancements over its immediate Kaby Lake-R predecessor based on our initial benchmarks with the Asus Zenbook UX433. It's largely forgettable if you already own a Kaby Lake-R laptop, but users with older systems will still see value if deciding to upgrade.

Dell has lined up a wide array of devices as part of its Black Friday deals. Many of the selected laptops are being offered in limited quantities with savings ranging from an enticing 10% off right up to a whopping 50% off a Vostro 15 500 with 1 TB HDD (US$509.00). Dell is also offering discounts on desktops, monitors, servers, peripherals, and hardware upgrades.

The Japanese telecommunications firm NTT DoCoMo has announced the achievement of 27Gbps data transfer using a 5G transmitter in the course of a collaboration with Mitsubishi. This trial involved driving a car with a roof-mounted antenna past a test tower in order to monitor data speeds.

Microsoft has announced that only Secure Hash Algorithm 2 (SHA-2) code-signing will be used to update legacy versions of Windows (namely Windows Server 2008 SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows 7 SP1). Machines that only support SHA-1 will be considered too vulnerable, and will be prevented from updating by next April.

The Pro and Gaming versions of Xiaomi Mi Notebooks are between 41 and 42% off on Gearbest for the peri-Black Friday period. These notebooks have up to 16GB of RAM and either i5 or i7 processors. The Gaming variant, which comes with a GTX 1060 GPU, may be a good option if Thunderbolt or G-Sync are not a priority.

The latest Command Center software by Alienware finally brings CPU, GPU, and memory overclocking capabilities to the "current-gen platforms with compatible components," so those using older Alienware hardware might not be able to fully enjoy these benefits. However, even XPS users can install this piece of code and use some of its features.

The manufacturer will be taking $50 to $300 off on a wide range of laptops and ZenFone smartphones throughout the rest of this month. Participating retailers like Newegg are even shaving off an additional $100 on certain deals.

Configure the laptop exactly the way you want it, request a quote, and then name your discount. The promotion will be for this weekend only and it will apply to all Eurocom laptops including gaming, workstations, Enterprise-class laptops, and mobile servers.

The recent 'crypto crash' may have resulted in a large-scale dumping of slightly older cards onto sites like eBay. Consequently, this may drive down the prices others with the same GPUs (e.g. gamers) can ask for their listings. In addition, this is the season to grab cash for upgrades.

The GT83 Titan with GTX 1070 SLI or GTX 1080 SLI graphics will be a full $1000 off. Most purchases will come with free MSI-branded gifts such as carrying bags, mice, mouse pads, and more.

According to a recent report by the analyst firm TrendForce, global laptop shipments have grown by 3.9% during the last quarter of this year. However, this number was projected to be 5 to 6% by now. This slowdown in the laptop market is attributed to Intel's current silicon drought.

Not satisfied with just offering hardware, Lenovo will now have a dedicated online storefront for PC games and closed betas. The store will be limited to gamers in the U.S. for now, but the manufacturer is promising exclusive deals and a tight screening process to weed out "half-finished, half-hearted" demos.

Many Microsoft users will soon be able to make Skype calls over their Alexa-powered smart speakers. This feature is only available in select countries, however. Those living in them may be able to find the new function in the speakers' Settings menu.

Users have reportedly discovered that iCloud stops working on laptops updated to the latest version of Windows (1809). This prevents syncing or uploading to the service. New installs of iCloud may also fail due to a lack of compatibility. Microsoft has announced a collaboration with Apple to fix the problem.

The "early sale" is for Razer newsletter subscribers via special promo codes only. Nonetheless, it's a sneak peek at the kinds of deals Razer likely has in store for the rest of the year.

The cycling deals will run throughout the week with savings between 10 percent and 35 percent across Lenovo's popular product lines. Newer models like the Legion Y530, however, have much smaller discounts compared to older models.

The German federal authorities have dedicated the country's entire C-band (or frequencies from 3.4 to 3.8 GHz) to the provision of 5G. This move is being applauded as it may result in more efficient deployment of the new mobile-data standard; on the other hand, there are those that see it as a governmental cash-grab.

The small 11.6-inch Chromebook will have integrated LTE capabilities catered specifically for use on Sprint's 4G network. Instead of giving it away for free as an incentive for new customers, however, the carrier will charge upfront for the device on top of the $15 per month wireless plan required to use it.

Microsoft is offering a sneak peek at its Black Friday deals for 2018. They include US$330 off the Surface Pro 6 bundled with its Type cover (in any color so long as it's black) and $310 off the Surface Pro Core M. There is also a range of XBox offers, including a Game Pass for $1 to new users.

Asus claims its PC builder business (mainly the motherboard sales) has suffered due to Intel's 14 nm CPU shortages. Overall profits have seen a 39% year-over-year decline and the next few quarters will continue to hit Asus's profits, as the shortages are expected to last until Q2 2019. The gaming PC and server businesses are unaffected by these problems, however.

The year 2018 is coming to a close. Time for new ThinkPad laptops: With the ThinkPad E490 and the ThinkPad E590, the first models of the upcoming generation have surfaced on sites of Korean registration-offices.

Acer's top-of-the-line Predator 700 laptop with GeForce GTX 1080 Max-Q Graphics will be $700 off next week along with at least a dozen other models. The promotion will apply to major retailers including Newegg, Amazon, Costco, Best Buy, Fry's, and more.

The LG 17Z990, 17ZD990, 17ZB990, 17ZG990, and 17Z99 are all probably pointing to a new series of 17-inch devices as part of its existing family of Gram laptops. With CES less than two months away, there's a good chance that LG will have something up its sleeve to announce.

The October update for Windows 10 is currently being rolled out to the general public. For those in the Fast ring of the Insider Preview program, however, the build of the future is available to try out. This update, known as 19H1, includes an improved Light Theme and some other things Microsoft had promised.

Apple has released new models of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with AMD Radeon Pro Vega GPUs. The new MacBook Pros can be configured with either a Radeon Pro Vega 16 or Radeon Pro Vega 20. The new GPU option is only available for the most expensive 15-inch Macbook Pro and will start at US $3,049.

NVIDIA has released a new Game Ready driver that is available to download for RTX and GeForce GPUs. The new driver brings optimisations for Battlefield V, Fallout 76 and Hitman 2. The Game Ready driver also adds support for real-time ray tracing in Battlefield V for GeForce RTX GPUs.

The Core i9-8950HK is faster than the Core i7-8750H configuration, but how much faster is it when compared to the Core i5-8300H? Our direct benchmark comparisons show the Core i7 configuration performing closer than we initially anticipated to the pricier Core i9 option.

HP is ending the year with some 11.6-inch netbooks designed around classroom use. The ProBook benefits from many of the same security features found on EliteBooks like HP BIOSphere Gen4 while having pre-loaded software support for e-readers and classroom projects.

It appears that Dell's most recent BIOS releases for the XPS 15 9570 have caused a GPU bug in some devices. Originally reported on Reddit, some XPS 15 9570 laptops power limit throttle their NVIDIA GPUs until they hit a temperature threshold, causing noticeably worse performance in games.
Update:Further benchmarks on an XPS 15 9570 running BIOS 1.3 added.

Unbeknown to most users, other resellers have been offering the same Walmart design for months. Walmart, however, has the clear advantage in price and volume and is able to offer the same exact chassis and specifications for hundreds of dollars less.

Looking for a laptop with the Core i9-8950HK CPU? Then either Aorus or MSI would be your best bet if you want to get the most that the pricey Intel CPU can offer. We compare 9 different laptops equipped with the same Core i9 CPU to see which comes out on top or bottom.

LaCie, a subsidiary of Seagate, has released its latest portable SSD with USB type C. The company claims that it can transfer data at up to 540 MB/s and support up to USB 3.0 standards. The LaCie type C portable SSD is also supposedly shock-proof, despite its carefully styled 9mm-thick chassis.

Get the Blade 15 in light gray for the same price as the standard black at $2200 USD. Razer has been pushing its line of Blade laptops harder than ever these past two years with the refreshed Blade Pro and introduction of the Blade 15.

The 2018 Macbook Air comes with a dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-8210Y processor and 16GB of RAM at best. A suspicious new listing on Geekbench 4 details an Apple laptop with the same motherboard as the Macbook Air, but with a faster i7 chipset. Could this have been an early prototype, or is there a better class of affordable MacBook coming soon?

The team over at iFixIt has published a complete teardown of the new MacBook Air Retina. While soldered storage and an integrated keyboard count heavily against the device, new pull tabs under the battery and a separate logic board for the dual Thunderbolt 3 ports make some components easy (well, easier) to repair. Overall, the MacBook Air Retina scored a 3 out of 10 for repairability.