Laptop

It is possible that Nvidia may have discontinued making GeForce MX discrete GPUs for laptops. With integrated GPUs such as the AMD Radeon 680M and entry-level Arc discrete GPUs like the A350M and A370M now capable of media acceleration and 1080p gaming at low to medium settings, the GeForce MX lineup seems no longer relevant.

Acer now has the Predator Helios 300 PH317-55-59J9 on sale for 28% off. The config on offer rocks a Core i5-11400H, an RTX 3060 laptop GPU, 16 GB of RAM, and 1 TB SSD. Both the RAM and the storage are user-replaceable as the Predator Helios 300 has two SO-DIMM and two M.2 slots. There is also a slot for a 2.5-inch SATA SSD for which Acer provides the required hardware in the box.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 laptop GPU has been compared against the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, highlighting the difference between the two graphics cards. While the GeForce RTX 4090 offers a health performance uplift in most cases, DLSS 3 technology also does plenty of heavy lifting to help NVIDIA's latest flagship laptop GPU.

Unveiled in 2020 as the first gaming laptop to feature a 300 Hz refresh rate option on a 17.3-inch display, the Razer Blade Pro 17 with Intel Core i7-10875H and GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q is no longer a high-end gaming laptop. However, it remains a worthy desktop replacement thanks to the ongoing US$1,000 discount for the two display options available.

Unveiled earlier this month at CES 2023, the latest Asus TUF Gaming A17 gaming laptops are not available for purchase yet. However, last year's model with AMD Ryzen 7 6800H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, and 16/512 GB is now 20% off on Amazon. Thus, it can be acquired for US$1,115 (down from US$1,399.99).

The new AirJet chips integrate technology that is used to cool aircraft jet engines. Even though it is only 2.8 mm thick, one AirJet chip can be 10 times more efficient compared to conventional fan-based laptop cooling systems. Furthermore, these cooling chips are essentially silent at 21 dBA and also allow for a dustproof design.

The first generation of Lenovo's ultra-sleek and portable ThinkPad X1 Nano has become quite affordable as a reputable retailer now offers a well-equipped configuration of the 13-inch business laptop with a considerable discount on eBay.

Shown at CES 2023 with new AMD Zen 4 processors up to the Ryzen 9 and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics, the updated Asus TUF Gaming A15 is still not available for purchase. However, last year's model with AMD Ryzen 7 6800H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 is now 21% off, so its price tag currently reads US$1,099.

Compared to the combinations of Intel CPU and Nvidia graphics, gaming laptops with a CPU and a GPU both from AMD are in the minority. If all pure AMD machines have major driver problems similar to the current Alienware m17 R5, then this is unlikely to change. It's a shame really, because the potential remains untapped.

JEDEC is looking to replace the venerable SO-DIMM standard with a new form-factor called CAMM that allows better scalability of up to 128 GB per module and increased data transfer speeds beyond DDR5-6400. Furthermore, CAMM would allow for thinner and lighter laptop chassis, as well as user-replaceable LPDDR modules.

MSI's high-end Titan GT77HX packing the RTX 4090 and the Raider GE78HX with RTX 4090 or RTX 4080 are expected to ship on February 8. The Pulse and Katana models with RTX 4070 and RTX 4060 / RTX 4050, respectively will ship on February 22. Reports suggest that pre-orders should start February 1.

Samsung has announced pricing and availability for the Galaxy Book2 Go series. Offered as the Galaxy Book2 Go and the Galaxy Book2 Go 5G, the laptop series comes with a 14-inch IPS display, a Snapdragon 7c Plus Gen 3 chipset and a 42.3 Wh battery, among other features. The Galaxy Book2 Go series starts at £449 and will be available later this month.

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 specifications have been leaked, as have the screen sizes for the numerous laptops that will be joining the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 at the ironically packed Unpacked event. The Galaxy Book3, Galaxy Book3 Pro, Galaxy Book3 360, and Galaxy Book3 Ultra are all expected to make an appearance.

The EliteBook scores with a powerful, energy-efficient Rembrandt APU, USB 4, LTE modem and very good battery runtimes. HP uses a very bright 13.3-inch screen in a work-friendly 16:10 format (1,920 x 1,200) with an optional privacy filter.

System76 teased a new version of its Pangolin laptop. The new Pangolin will come with an AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, Radeon 680M graphics, a 144 Hz FHD screen, and quite a bit of connectivity.

The Pulse GL76 excels in the big three: CPU, GPU, and display all for a reasonable price. A lot of extras features are missing, but they're not deal breakers for most gamers on a budget.

The powerful RTX 3070 Ti configuration of the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro comes with a decent 165Hz QHD display and a quick AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX CPU, which arguably makes this 16-inch gaming laptop a good purchase at US$1,439.

Apple's M2 MacBook Air is a solid choice for a portable, all-around laptop. Currently, Best Buy is selling both the 256 GB and 512 GB models for $200 off, a savings of 17% and 13%, respectively.

Lunar Lake is being developed in close collaboration with OS makers and laptop OEMs to power thin and light devices featuring all-day battery life and uncompromised 15 W TDP performance.

Amazon has reduced a popular ASUS TUF Gaming F15 configuration, taking the machine below US$1,000. The TUF Gaming F15 combines a Core i7-11800H with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, plus a 90 Wh battery and a 15.6-inch display.

Amazon has knocked almost a quarter off a recent VivoBook Pro 16X OLED model. Offered with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H for US$1,099.99, the laptop also has an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, a high-resolution OLED display and a 96 Wh battery, among other features.

Acer has started selling updated versions of the Aspire 3. Now available with Intel Alder Lake-N processors, the Aspire 3 comes in 14-inch and 15.6-inch variants, both with LPDDR5 RAM and 3-cell Li-Polymer batteries. The new Aspire 3 series starts at US$479.99, or US$499.99 for the 15.6-inch version.

Microsoft has confirmed the ultimate end of Windows 7 support by finally pulling the last vestige of updates available to the OS. The Redmond giant has also now announced that its 8.1 successor is also now at the end of its life, although it will not be extended the same prolonged security-update palliative care of the preceding version.

With an Amazon list price of US$2,599, the MSI Raider GE77 HX 12UGS-004 carries a lower US$2,199.99 price tag on MSI's website. Thankfully, this 17.3-inch gaming laptop with i7-12800H X and 3070 Ti inside can be acquired now from both locations for US$1,999.99, which translates to a generous 23% discount for Amazon users.

One-netbook is selling another mini laptop globally. Previously called the ONEMIX 4S, the One Netbook 4S offers Intel Alder Lake-U series processors with a 10.1-inch display, 16 GB of RAM and a compact keyboard. The One Netbook 4S has a 2.5K native resolution and a 38.5 Wh battery, among other features.

ASUS has presented the Chromebook CM14 series, which consists of the Chromebook CM14 and Chromebook CM14 Flip. Both powered by the MediaTek Kompanio 520 chipset, the pair also have a 14-inch displays and numerous ports, among other features.

Asus will be moving away from the awkward soldered and removable hybrid approach on some Zephyrus models moving forward. The new Zephyrus M16 models will instead have 2x SODIMM slots for more freedom in end-user upgradeability.

Prices for the XMG NEO 16 (E23) GPU upgrade options have been revealed, and those wanting an RTX 4080 or RTX 4090 laptop need to be prepared to pay a small fortune. The NEO 16, which is so powerful it comes with a liquid metal cooling system, starts at a price of €2,199 (US$2,362) for a system with an RTX 4060 GPU and Intel Core i9-13900HX CPU.

Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman has detailed Apple's plans for 2023. 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros with M2 Pro/M2 Max SoCs are scheduled for an early 2023 launch, followed by the 15-inch MacBook Air. The Mac Pro will retain its predecessor's cheese grater design and use an M2 Ultra chip.

MSI's high-end gaming notebook impressed us with its neck-breaking CPU performance and one of the most beautiful OLED displays on the market, which makes it an easy recommendation for affluent gamers who don't like to wait for the upcoming release of RTX 4000-powered machines.

Acer tries to go sustainable with the Aspire Vero: the chassis of the 14-inch laptop is partly made of recycled plastic. In addition, the device offers great performance, Thunderbolt 4 support and outstanding battery life.

The powerful 14-inch business laptop from HP comes with a quick AMD Ryzen processor and a bright 400-nit IPS display, which arguably turn the EliteBook 845 into a decent bargain at a steeply discounted sale price of US$879.

Praised by many home users and reviewers as one of the best sub-US$100 WiFi 6 Gigabit routers, the TP-Link AX1800 (Archer AX21) features wireless speeds up to 1.8 Gbps, beamforming, as well as a USB 2.0 port for easy file sharing. The 30% discount takes its US$99.99 Amazon list price to US$69.99.

Intel's recently announced Core i5-13500HX processor scored 1,711 points on Geekbench's single-core test and 11,319 on the multi-core test. Both figures are remarkably higher than that of the last-gen flagship Zen 3 chip, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, which, on average, scored 1,564 and 9,863 points on the benchmark.

The AMD Radeon RX 7700S scored 81,145 points on Geekbench's OpenCL benchmark, performing more or less on par with the Radeon RX 6700M and about 28% faster than the RDNA 2-based Radeon RX 6700S. Unfortunately, it cannot take on the better-specced GeForce RTX 4060.

The ASUS VivoBook 16X is going for US$100 off on Newegg, resulting in the lowest price for the laptop compared to other competing retailers. In addition to standard specs like a speedy processor, the VivoBook 16X offers other nifty features like a keyboard that reportedly stops bacterial growth and a webcam that has a privacy shutter.

Samsung has unveiled a new version of the Galaxy Book Go. Now called the Galaxy Book2 Go, the device is based around the more powerful Snapdragon 7c Plus Gen 3, which also provides Wi-Fi 6E connectivity and nearly a day's battery life, among other features.