Laptop

Based on reader interest, deal-tracking site Slickdeals is predicting that the new Inspiron 7000 convertible and XPS 13 will become highly sought-after laptops once they launch in just a few short months. The Inspiron series alone has had over 200 deals in all of 2018 or nearly three times more than the XPS series.

Lenovo's latest lineup of Legion laptops aims directly for budget-conscious gamers with its fairly low starting prices. All models share very similar internals between them despite their distinct appearances. We compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Dell has revealed that it plans to start offering the XPS 15 with an OLED panel in March 2019. Such a laptop would be able to offer a much better contrast ratio and more vivid colors than its LCD-wielding counterparts. It’s also possible the new XPS 15 might follow in the footsteps of the refreshed XPS 13 and have its webcam placed on the top edge of the screen.

Although all SKUs may look identical, their sizes are very slightly different between them due to changes in the cooling solution and GPU. We've compiled all the size differences here so potential buyers can more easily compare the Blade 15 versions before committing to a full purchase.

The Honor MagicBook pairs the AMD Ryzen 5 2500U CPU with the same RAM and storage options as the Intel counterpart. In contrast, other OEMs often handicap their AMD SKUs with slow HDDs, cheap displays, and limited RAM. The result is an AMD laptop that performs almost as well as the Intel equivalent for about $150 less.

An article posted to the online outlet Motherboard has alleged that the carriers T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T have been selling their US customers' geolocation data to private companies, who then went on to sell it to other parties such as those who issue bail bonds. The carriers in question have subsequently committed to put an end to these practices.

Last December, Notebookcheck reported on the ThinkPad E490s, a new model that is part of Lenovo's affordable ThinkPad E series. At CES, Lenovo has announced that this model will not be released in the UK and the rest of Europe.

According to preliminary estimates by Gartner, Lenovo was the world’s largest PC vendor in 2018 in terms of units shipped. The Chinese company was at the top of the pile for the last quarter of the year (4Q18) and beat out HP and Dell for the year overall. However, Lenovo only came third for 4Q18 shipments in the US, behind HP and Dell.

The developer studio Bungie has announced that it will publish its flagship series, Destiny, independently, thus ending its partnership with Activision. This eventuality has been anticipated by industry insiders and observers for some time. However, this is the first time that Bungie has made an official statement on the subject.

Intel Ice Lake is on track for a late 2019 debut just in time for the Holiday shopping season and the Dell XPS 13 series should be one of the first to market with the new CPU. The actual chassis looks to be identical to the current iteration to suggest that the eventual Ice Lake XPS 13 will simply be an internal update.

The manufacturer will be leaving behind the Aorus X design in favor of a newer narrow-bezel look with more heat pipes, more ventilation, and a slightly thicker profile. The change will hopefully address some of the most common drawbacks of the original Aorus chassis including noise and heat.

While some are not happy to hear that the successor of the XPS 15 9570 is not being developed yet, many users are still waiting for Dell to make things right for them. The issues that need to be fixed are the DPC latency, coil whine, and the dGPU throttle.

The MXM form factor preceding DGFF never took off even though it was marketed for its versatility and ability to support future GPUs. If Dell isn't careful, they may repeat the same mistakes and run into a wall with DGFF once Nvidia launches a Turing successor.

The upcoming Optane products will get a considerable speed boost, as Intel will switch from the PCIe Gen X2 interface to the Gen 3 X4 one. There will be a new M15 caching module, a new stand-alone 815P SSD and a new H10 combo module that will feature caching and QLC NAND storage. All these new products should be launched in Q2 2019.

What is the most that you would pay for a laptop? Well, Dell UK must think that some people have cash to burn as it has listed a version of the Precision 7720 for over £7 million on its website. That is ex. VAT and delivery too, although you would be apparently saving over £3 million. A true bargain then.

Omnicharge has managed to secure funding of over US$1 million on Indiegogo for its Omni Ultimate battery-charging solution. The device offers a colossal 40,300 mAh (145 Wh) battery capacity but is considerably more portable than some of its rivals. It comes with a plethora of features to help it stand out of the small crowd of mega-chargers, including the ability to replace depleted batteries on the go.

Lenovo announced its Yoga S730 a few months ago at IFA. At CES, Lenovo introduced the Yoga S940 today. This higher-end model of Lenovo's consumer ultrabook series contains a 13.9 inch screen, which is much brighter and comes with an optional 4K UHD panel, which also support HDR.

The OLED panel will likely be the same panel on the upcoming OLED HP Spectre x360 15. The convertible is otherwise only an internal update from last year's Yoga 730 2-in-1.

The "under-your-nose" camera will soon be a thing of the past. The move is a direct response to user complaints and a blow to competitors like the Huawei MateBook X Pro or Lenovo Legion Y530 where OEMs had to get creative with suboptimal camera positioning.

Frank Azor cites low interest in gaming subnotebooks like the Alienware 13 as a big reason for skipping additional GPU options for the XPS 13 family. A few competing 13-inch Ultrabooks like the HP Envy 13, Huawei MateBook X Pro, and Razer Blade Stealth all offer optional GeForce MX150 graphics for superior graphics performance over the XPS 13.

These two classic Alienware laptops have reached End-of-Life (EOL) status in order to make room for the thinner, lighter, and sleeker Alienware m15 and m17 successors. The Alienware 17 in particular is being succeeded by both the Alienware m17 and the much more versatile Alienware Area-51m desktop replacement.

Coming straight from the horse's mouth, Dell product manager Frank Azor has confirmed that CES 2019 will focus on the XPS 13 series, Alienware series, and Latitude series with the XPS 15 taking a back seat.

Dell is pulling a Clevo by offering a laptop with desktop CPU options and an upgradeable GPU. Instead of adopting the MXM GPU form factor like MSI and Clevo, however, Dell has created its own proprietary DGFF GPU form factor that promises better support and easier serviceability.

Dell has announced at CES that it is upgrading the G5 15 5590, G7 15 7590, and G7 17 7790 with the new Nvidia RTX mobile GPUs, including the top-of-the-line RTX 2080. An OLED screen option is also being added, similar to the offering in earlier models of the Alienware 13.

The new Chromebook family for the education market includes the first-ever Chrome OS-driven tablet by Asus, a 14-inch clamshell design Chromebook, an 11.6-inch convertible, and an 11.6-inch clamshell configuration. While the tablet is powered by the Rockchip OP1 processor, the other three devices use Intel Celeron processors.

Samsung had previously released its Notebook Flash in South Korea, as part of a campaign to highlight its next-generation connectivity capabilities. Accordingly, the Flash has Gigabit WiFi, which can deliver speeds of up to 1.7Gb/s. This 13.3-inch laptop, which also has a retro typewriter keyboard, will be available in other countries soon.

Previously used for a secret satellite internet project and a BlackBerry phone, Athena returns as the name of an innovation program by Intel "that defines and aims to help bring to market a new class of advanced laptops that are purpose-built to help people focus, adapt to life’s roles and always be ready."

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 4 convertible gets revamped for 2019 with a completely new chassis. For the first time ever on a ThinkPad X1 laptop, its completely made out of CNC-machined aluminium and not available in black.

Lenovo aims to become more competitive in the mobile gaming market with the Legion Y740, the company's latest flagship gaming laptop. The Y740 comes in two sizes, a 15-inch and a 17-inch model. Both variants sport Intel's 8th generation H-series CPUs, up to 32 GB of DDR4 RAM, and up to a 512 GB PCIe SSD / 512 GB SATA SSD or 2 TB HDD combo. The 15-inch model will come with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q, while the 17-inch model gets the powerful GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q. The Legion Y740 is expected to be available next month for $1750 (15-inch) or $1980 (17-inch).

Samsung has announced details of its latest gaming device, the Samsung Notebook Odyssey. The South Korean manufacturer introduced its Odyssey line-up in early 2017 and now the company has put together a new laptop to try to entice gamers away from the usual suspects. An 8th generation hexa-core i7 processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 come as part of the package.

The flagship series from MSI is getting updated specs that include the newly announced RTX 2000 mobility GPUs from Nvidia, a large array of NVMe / SATA SSDs / SATA HDD storage options, plus features like synchronized RGB lights and haptic feedback placed underneath the palm rest area in order to enrich the gaming immersion.

For gamers who prefer unique chassis esthetics to go along with the unparalleled performance, MSI has updated the Raider series with new GE75/63 models. The covers now feature special lighting elements like the L-shaped RGB cutouts on the GE63 model, or the 3D Dragon Spines with anodized red diamond-cut finish on the GE75 laptops.

Apart from updating the specs of the Stealth slim gaming laptops with the latest RTX 2000 Max-Q GPUs that do not require active cooling, MSI also updated the design with stylish gold trim and accents plus a sandblast metallic black finish. The displays feature thin bezels, and there is a larger glass touchpad for increased precision.

When it comes to gaming laptops, the budget sector is what really drives profits for most OEMs. MSI's updated budget series is represented by the GL73/63 models that now integrate RTX 2060 GPUs and up to gen 8 Core i7 CPUs from Intel. The keyboards only get a red backlight, while the displays are limited to 120 Hz FHD TN panels.

The professionally-focused MSI PS63 was developed in collaboration with Discovery Channel to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. This resulted in a particularly interesting business notebook with decent features.

The latest Chromebook by Asus, namely the Flip C434, features a 360-degree hinge and a 14-inch full HD IPS NanoEdge touchscreen display, various processor choices by Intel going as high as the Core i7-8500Y, as well as up to 8 GB of memory and up to 128 GB of eMMC internal storage.

In addition to the upgraded Blade 15 Advanced, Razer is also showing two interesting prototypes at CES. The first one sports a 240 Hz full HD display, while the other one comes with a 4K OLED touchscreen. Sadly, these might not make it to the masses anytime soon, since both are only being evaluated at this stage.

The 13.3-inch laptop is 1.6 mm thinner than the 2018 MacBook Air and has a higher 88 percent screen-to-body ratio. Its Whiskey Lake-U options should provide a significant boost in CPU performance over the passively-cooled Amber Lake-Y processor in the Apple equivalent. The MateBook 13 launches later this month for a starting price of $999 USD.

At one point, Belkin was the go-to brand for third-party Apple accessories, not to mention USB power banks and cables. However, it had gone quiet for a good while following its amalgamation with Foxconn. This year, Belkin and its current international brands (Linksys, Wemo and Phyn) have made a comeback to CES this year to showcase their new products.

Acer today announced the new Predator Triton 900 2-in-1 gaming notebook. The Predator Triton 900 is the world's first gaming convertible and features high-end specs that include a 17.3-inch 4K G-Sync display, a Core i7-8750H CPU, and the just announced laptop version of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080. Acer has equipped the Predator Triton 900 with a 4th generation AeroBlade 3D cooling system to keep temperatures under control.

The Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model has been upgraded with new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2000-series graphics cards for every budget, starting with the RTX 2060 with 6 GB GDDR6 and going all the way up to the RTX 2080 with 8 GB GDDR6. The top two configurations feature a Max-Q design and all will be available starting at the end of the month.

On the heels of AMD unveiling CPUs for Chromebooks, Acer has announced the Chromebook 315 powered by the 7th generation AMD A-Series CPUs with integrated Radeon graphics. The Acer Chromebook 315 is built for all-day work and can run both Chrome OS and Android apps with equal ease.

Acer expands its Predator Triton lineup with the Predator Triton 500. The new model is an especially powerful laptop with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q that is still very mobile.

Asus has revealed the StudioBook S (W700) workstation that comes with either an Intel Xeon E-2176 or an Intel Core i7-8750H processor and an Nvidia Quadro P3200 graphics card. The powerful 2.39 kg/5.27 lb laptop, which is aimed at content creation professionals, also comes with a Pantone-validated 17-inch FHD NanoEdge display and up to 64 GB DDR4 2666 MHz RAM.

At CES 2019, Acer has announced the new Swift 7 notebook with an even more slimmer and lighter profile than last year while still offering improved 8th generation Intel CPUs, a 92% screen-to-body ratio, Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, and an all-alloy construction. The new Swift 7 will be available in North America in May 2019 starting from US$1,699 and in EMEA and China from April 2019.

Asus has announced the TUF Gaming FX505DY and FX705DY laptops featuring AMD’s Ryzen 5 3550H APU and Radeon RX 560X GPU. If that isn’t enough to tempt prospective buyers, the Taiwanese manufacturer has also incorporated IPS-level FHD NanoEdge displays into the two laptops that utilize AMD’s FreeSync dynamic refresh rate technology for enhancing gaming sessions.

The new Alienware m17 is essentially the 17-inch version of the existing Alienware m15. Dell will launch the laptop later this month with next generation Nvidia Turing Max-Q graphics.

Debuting alongside the Nvidia Turing series for laptops, the upcoming Zephyrus GX701 will carry GTX 2080 Max-Q graphics and a 17.3-inch 144 Hz display with 3 ms response times for an ultra-smooth 1080p gaming experience. Its super-thin design is inspired by the existing 15.6-inch Zephyrus GX531.