Laptop

The ThinkPad T, X, and P families are home to Lenovo's more well-known models including the 14-inch T480, 15-inch T580, X380 convertible, and 15-inch P52 workstation. While their design, features, and performance are generally very well received, many may be unfit for users who are sensitive to flickering lights. Be wary when purchasing the following ThinkPad models.

Realtek is almost ready to launch a more affordable all-in-one USB dock for laptops. The latest prototype features a 10 Gb/s USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 main port splits the bandwidth across a great selection of connectors. Even though there is no Thudnerbolt 3 support, all the connector chips are proprietary, so the dock should feature a sub-US$100 price.

References to few upcoming AMD parts have been spotted in the Ashes of the Singularity DirectX 12 benchmark database. These include new 35W quad core chips such as the AMD Ryzen 7 2800H and Ryzen 5 2600H signalling AMD's arrival in the gaming laptop market. Some references to Vega 20 and Vega 12 GPUs were also spotted in the same database.

While the US market remains stuck at only four configurations directly available from Dell.com for this popular Cofee Lake-powered premium laptop, India is scheduled to receive the XPS 15 9570 next Tuesday. However, Frank Azor has not confirmed yet how many hardware setups will be available on launch.

The new Pulse 15 customizable gaming PC from Maingear gets updated with all the current trendy options: thin bezels, 15.6-inch screen squeezed in a 14-inch chassis, six-core CPU, mechanical RGB keyboard, plus a generous 2 TB NVMe SSD. Users can also choose to customize the model with automotive paints and MARC II finishes.

There is mounting evidence that Google is working on allowing its Pixelbooks to natively support Windows 10. What's more, it seems that Google could also be chasing official certification from Microsoft meaning that the Pixelbook could even ship with Windows 10 pre-installed.

Lenovo launches the first model of its well-known ThinkPad-line of laptops with the new Intel Coffee-Lake hexa-core processors. The new ThinkPad P52 is not only the first ThinkPad workstation with those new CPUs, its also Lenovo's first VR-ready mobile workstation in the more compact 15.6-inch size with the new Nvidia Quadro P3200.

According to Lenovo, there will be no new additions to the ultra high-end Legion Y900 series as priorities have shifted to the mainstream gaming segment instead. The more affordable Legion Y530, Y730, and Y7000 will all be launching in the July to September time frame. There is potential in a proper Y920 successor further down the line when the new Nvidia GPUs become available.

Lenovo's Legion gaming series is getting a full-on makeover from top to bottom. The new streamlined designs incorporate per-key RGB lighting, narrow bezels, 144 Hz IPS panels, 10 percent stronger cooling, and a more business-appropriate matte look. Expect these systems to launch next month for a starting price of $930 USD and $1180 USD for the Y530 and Y730, respectively.

The 2017 15.6-inch Legion Y520 will split into two successors this year as the Legion Y530 and Legion Y7000. The Y7000 represents a more natural evolution of the existing Legion design while the Y530 will be more restrained in its looks to appeal to office workers. Both, however, are otherwise very similar in performance and internal options.

Intel's 14 nm Goldmont Plus platform is seeing a very limited release as laptops equipped with Celeron N4000/N4100 or Pentium N5000 SoCs are still difficult to come by. Chinese manufacturers may finally be jumping in to scoop up the inexpensive CPU series and offer cheap Windows laptops. The EZbook X4 is one such model that promises a lot of mainstream features like 1080p and backlit keys for just under $300 USD.

Microsoft and EA have announced that both the Halo and Madden franchises, respectively, will be coming back to the PC. Both titles have been restricted to consoles for the past several generations and will be welcomed by PC gamers.

The California hardware company will be reusing its SC15 design from last year with only internal CPU and GPU updates for 2018. While its chassis is strong and quite rigid, it risks looking outdated against the competition where narrow bezels and per-key RGB lighting are becoming the norm.

Do you own a laptop with an OLED display? It's going to have to last because IPS displays continue to be the go-to panel technology for nearly all new models. Both Lenovo and Dell discontinued their only OLED laptops last year and have told us that they have no short-term plans to reintroduce an OLED option.

The Acer Aspire E 15 is an Amazon bestseller, and with good reason. The updated version of the notebook—with an i5-8520U, MX150, and 256 GB SSD is currently going for under MSRP.

AMD’s press conference earlier today contained a number of interesting new AMD-powered devices. One that stood out was the refreshed Huawei MateBook D with Ryzen APU and Vega graphics.

Red and Green in one consumer laptop without any tricks or eGPU docks. The Asus X570ZD laptop will be the first to incorporate a Ryzen 7 2700U APU with integrated Vega 10 graphics and a dedicated GeForce GTX 1050 GPU for more demanding tasks like gaming. AMD is promising the graphics switching technology to be seamless not unlike the current implementation of Nvidia Optimus on Intel-powered laptops. Prices, SKUs, and availability are all still under wraps for now.

Take a picture of yourself using any laptop outdoors for a chance to win a brand new Max-Q laptop. Max-Q technology was designed for thin-and-light gaming notebooks that can also be used on-the-go like an Ultrabook. Only four winners will be announced on July 30th with specific Max-Q models from Acer, Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte.

The Acer Predator Helios 500 is a powerful gaming laptop with an overclockable Intel i9-8950HK processor and the choice between a 144 Hz Gsync display or a color accurate 4K panel. Acer uses metal blades in their 3D fan design, which they claim improves cooling.

USB Type-C Gen. 2 is still rather uncommon on notebooks. The single-chip controller solution from Cypress should make it less expensive for both Intel and AMD to integrate multiple USB Type-C Gen. 2 ports onto laptops while allowing for 100 W power delivery and better fail-safe mechanisms.

If you are searching for a 15-inch hexa-core laptop but maybe budget is not that generous, MSI has you covered with the GF63 series which should be launched soon. This sub-US$1000 model integrates the Intel i7-8750H six-core CPU coupled with 8 or 16 GB of RAM, and can pack a 256 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD storage combo. Users can also choose between the GTX 1050 or 1050 Ti GPUs.

It was a long time coming: Laptop pioneer Toshiba wants to sell its laptop business and it has found a buyer. Sharp, a subsidiary of the huge ODM Foxconn, will buy the business for a comparably low price.

The lightweight laptop is exactly as thin as the ZenBook 3 UX490UA but with improved cooling and a unique hinge setup. Asus is promising better ergonomics and external GPU (eGPU) support via its integrated Thunderbolt 3 ports. The system launches in one week for $1200 USD.

For now, the top configuration of the XPS 15 9570 with a non-touch full HD display available in the US via Dell.com sports an Intel Core i7-8750H processor. However, Frank Azor has just confirmed that more setups will be available later this month, including one that features the i9-8950HK processor out of the box.

The VivoBook is Asus’s general consumer-focused product line, with the S-series sitting in the crossroad of trade-offs between portability, battery life, and performance, making it a good general-purpose notebook.

The Asus ZenBook Pro 15 UX580 is a sleek and sexy looking premium notebook that packs an Intel i9-8950HK and Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti. The UX580 includes a touchscreen trackpad with functionality similar to Apple's Touchbar and the ability to drag desktop windows onto it like a secondary display.

30% more performance, 20% longer battery life and 20% faster Gigabit LTE speeds are the main features compared to the existing Snapdragon 835 SoC.

The Sabre series is back with updated features and even Intel Optane support. The chassis design, however, is looking to be identical to last year's model with the only changes being exclusively internal. Gigabyte says it will be the first gaming laptop to ship with Core i7+ CPUs meaning that users can configure with Optane memory to boost HDD transfer rates.

"Wonder Woman" and "Asus" come together like peanut butter and jelly. The titular actress was appointed to brand ambassador for Asus PCs early this year and Asus is leveraging that fact again for Computex 2018. The move will hopefully boost Asus' public image to ultimately sell more PCs worldwide.

The 14-inch PS42 ships with Intel U-class CPUs and a GeForce MX150 GPU in an aluminum chassis very similar to that of the 15.6-inch GS65. The design could potentially lead to a proper successor for the old GS43 Shadow since the two Prestige and Gaming G Series families almost always share chassis designs. The PS42 will ship in Europe by the end of next month.

A press release from Dell Technologies has shown that the Texas-based company has enjoyed strong results for the first financial quarter of fiscal year 2019. Total net revenue stood at US$21.4 billion, which is a considerable increase over the US$18 billion revenue earned for the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.

MSI decided to announce its high-end 17-inch GT75 Titan 8RG and mid-high GE73 Raider RGB right before Computex 2018, and the two models will be on display in Taipei. The GE73 Raider RGB comes with Intel Core i7 hexa-core CPUs and GTX 1070 GPUs, while the GT75 Titan 8RG sports the more expensive i9 hexa-cores and desktop-grade GTX 1080 GPUs. l

As previously rumored, Asus now has a proper competitor to the MSI GS65 with its ROG GL504 series. The 15.6-inch laptop offers 144 Hz IPS panels, 3 ms gray-to-gray response times, and quad-antenna ROG RangeBoost technology for the first time in a laptop that promises 30 percent wider WiFi coverage than dual-antenna configurations. The GL504 launches next quarter for 1550 Euros.

The Killer xTend software turns Killer Wireless equipped computers into wireless extenders via hotspot or mesh networking. The host computer can extend the network via either wireless or LAN, and Killer's traffic prioritisation and optimisation is in effect for the host and any connected devices.

These two unconfirmed quad-core APUs could potentially be part of AMD's high-performance Ryzen series for gaming laptops. If true, laptop gamers may finally have a proper alternative to the ubiquitous i7-6700HQ, i5-7300HQ, i7-7700HQ, and i7-8750H CPUs that power essentially all the latest gaming notebooks in the market today. With Computex right around the corner, we're crossing our fingers for a proper announcement.

The mainstream 14-inch SKU will serve as the AMD alternative to the existing Intel MagicBook with Core i5-8250U CPUs and GeForce MX150 graphics. Chinese retailers are already detailing the "Sharp Dragon" Ryzen configuration albeit without an official price for now. Unfortunately, don't expect the MagicBook to launch globally anytime soon. The Vega 8 should offer a similar graphics experience as the GeForce 940MX.