Windows

Lenovo introduces its third-gen 11.6-inch Windows machines for education as devices robust and versatile enough for any kind of learning situation the student might encounter. The 500w and 300w convertibles come in casings with the durability-focused designs schools might prefer to see, as does the 100w clamshell. The series incorporates the AMD 3015e platform, although there is the option of a Pentium chipset in the 500w.

With the Hi10 Go, Chuwi has created a 2-in-1 convertible based on Intel's new Jasper Lake of Celeron processors. The Hi10 Go supports pen input, too.

Qualcomm is rumoured to be developing a new high-end SoC for laptops this year, and someone may have already benchmarked it on Geekbench. The so-called Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 offers a huge performance leap over its predecessor and the Microsoft SQ2, with scores that rival the Core i7-1065G7 and Core i7-1165G7. The Apple M1 has the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 well beaten, though.

How much can you expect from a fairly inexpensive convertible that comes with an Intel Ice Lake i5 processor, on-board graphics, and 8 GB of RAM at 800 Euros? Quite a bit, as our review of the Aspire Spin 3 SP314 shows.

Not every single thing has to be perfect to get a good score. Despite small weaknesses, a device can prove to be quite impressive as our review of the Dell Inspiron 14 7400 shows.

Dell's 2-in-1 device hardly warms up, offers good battery life, and comes with a touchscreen display in the 3:2 format. The latter can be operated both with the fingers and with the separately available Dell Premium Active Pen.

Unleashed for both desktop and mobile users, Vivaldi 3.7 comes with native support for Apple M1 processors and noticeable speed improvements (Windows/Linux/macOS), as well as easier bookmarking of websites and a friendly Welcome page alongside various other interface enhancements (Android).

The Acer Aspire 5 A517 with the model number A517-52G-79Z5 offers the Intel i7-1165G7, 16 GB of RAM, and the GeForce MX350, among other things, for a good 1,000 Euros (~$1,192). It performed convincingly in many aspects in our test and hardly showed any weaknesses.

With the ConceptD 3 Ezel, Acer has created a multimedia convertible with a design that we really like. It doesn't really perform poorly in any area in our test - which stings, though: It could have been much better with other components.

The Beelink SEI8 and Beelink GTI both feature the Core i5-8259U, a 28 W processor from Intel's Coffee Lake family. Both machines feature extensive I/O, PCIe NVMe SSDs and have 8 GB of RAM. The two mini-PCs are orderable now from Amazon, and Beelink is offering some hefty discounts for pre-orderers.

The successor to last year's GMK NucBox is here and it is orderable for US$489.99. The GMK NucBox2 is not as small as its predecessor, but it features a more powerful Intel 8th Gen Core processor with an Iris Plus Graphics 655 integrated GPU. The machine can output to two 4K monitors simultaneously and has Wi-Fi 6 connectivity.

The Schenker XMG Core 15 brings all modern computer games smoothly onto the responsive screen (WQHD, IPS, 165 Hz). This is complemented by an NVMe SSD, 16 GB of RAM (dual-channel mode), and decent battery life. The new Control Center provides extensive options to adjust the performance of the APU and GPU.

The latest update to War Thunder, labeled 2.5 "Ixwa Strike" and unleashed earlier today, brings more than 20 new ground vehicles (including a South African separate branch in the British tech tree), first sweep-wing aircraft (Su-17M), 5 new ships, new locations, a pilot HUD, new graphical effects, and more.

Microsoft will offer the Surface Laptop 4 with Intel Tiger Lake-U and AMD Ryzen Renoir APUs, according to a new leak. The Surface Laptop 4 will have a larger battery capacity than its predecessor, but only Intel models will be available with up to 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage.

A version of Bloodborne specifically remastered for the PlayStation 5 has long been rumored and requested, with an apparent glitch intensifying chatter that the action RPG title will soon be upgraded for the PS5. It’s also rumored Bloodborne will join PlayStation classics like God of War and Ghost of Tsushima for PC porting.

Does a large laptop plus a lot of space for cooling equal tons of performance? This concept works with the MSI GP76 Leopard 10UG and allows the use of the RTX 3070 in maximum mode.

Despite its designation, the ThinkPad T15g is a full-fledged mobile workstation and shares the chassis construction with the ThinkPad P15. The design was refreshed, but the device still appears pretty outdated due to massive bezels. There is also an issue with the keyboard and coil whine is a problem as well.

Simple laptops should provide at least the bare mimumium when it comes to usability. This is possible even with simple CPUs, because they are not the only thing that matters.

Camera maker Nikon has launched a new photo and video editing desktop application for Mac and Windows. Even better, the new app is free and looks to be quite fully featured.

Originally slated for release in February, Lenovo has released their new 2021 X1 ThinkPad now in early March. Both the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 and ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6 feature new 14 inch 16:10 screens. As usual with Lenovo, their starting prices are sky high at the moment.

Steam has published its Hardware & Software Survey for February and AMD has managed to gain further processor usage share from Intel. However, while things look rosy for AMD at the moment, the supply situation could give the upcoming Intel Rocket Lake series an upper hand over the Ryzen 5000 range.

The Xiaomi RedmiBook Pro 14 features a 14-inch and 16:10 display, Intel Tiger Lake processors, plenty of ports and even an NVIDIA GeForce MX450 GPU in some cases. Third-party retailers have already started selling the laptop too, although for far more than Xiaomi prices it in China.

Without bringing any major changes to the gameplay or interface, World of Tanks 1.12 is now live and comes with (only four, unfortunately) rebalanced tier VIII premium tanks, interface improvements inspired by popular mods, a sneak preview of the reworked Steel Hunter mode, and more.

One part of the AMD Ryzen 5000 lineup for 2021 is still not officially announced: The Ryzen Pro CPUs for business laptops. We have already seen the flagship AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 5850U in action through some leaked benchmarks. The spec-sheet of a recently announced Lenovo ThinkPad reveals specifications of both the 5850U and the six-core Ryzen 5 Pro 5650U.

A series of exclusives, leaks, and rumours have recently pointed to some improvements in the compatibility and performance of Microsoft's xCloud game streaming. The PC client, touch support, and higher resolution would make it a strong GeForce Now and Stadia alternative.

With its Comet Lake octa-core processor and GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, the Aorus 15P XC is able to display all current games smoothly. The other aspects are promising too: 32 GB of RAM (dual channel mode), space for two NVMe SSDs, and a responsive display (FHD, IPS, 240 Hz).

According to a new report, ASUS plans to release a new series of mini-PCs based on Intel's Jasper Lake platform. ASUS is yet to officially unveil the PN41 series, but a retailer has listed the PN41 on its website, much like the PN51 that also leaked recently.

A South Korean news outlet suggests that Samsung and AMD's Radeon mobile GPU could debut alongside a laptop, instead of a smartphone. Samsung also plans on launching its first-ever laptop-grade SoC, the Exynos 2200, alongside it. The laptop in question could very likely be a Galaxy Book S successor.

Some of the 2021 ThinkPads have been redesigned by Lenovo. Not so the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 2 and T15 Gen 2: Both still use the same chassis as their predecessors. They are new on the inside though, as both will be offered with the newest Intel and AMD processors.

Lenovo has launched three new mobile workstations called the Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 2, ThinkPad P14si Gen 2 and ThinkPad P15s Gen 2. They come with several enterprise-centric features such as an Nvidia (Quadro) T500 GPU, LTE connectivity, and a Smart Card Reader. ThinkPad P14si Gen 2 and P15s will be retail for US$1,389 in March 2021, and the ThinkPad P14si in May 2021 for US$1,169

Compact laptops with high CPU performance and business features represent a kind of niche on the laptop market. The Latitude 14 5411 combines these qualities, but it still has room for improvement.

In our review, the Lenovo ThinkPad E15 Gen 2 with the Tiger Lake CPU shows that Intel is getting back up on its feet. The decision to buy comes down to details, some of which speak against the AMD variant.

The latest full-year analysis of the PC market show that devices that run ChromeOS gained more and more market share during 2020 compared to those running macOS. Windows remained the market leader, although its share did fall compared to 2019. These changes might be related to the overwhelming demand for home-learning and -working solutions that marked the year just gone.

The BMAX X15 has a 15.6-inch display, an Intel Celeron N4120 processor and 8 GB of LPDDR4 RAM. The budget laptop has an M.2280 slot too, should you wish to add more storage. The BMAX X15 retails for under US$330 on AliExpress and Amazon.

Lenovo ThinkPads are among the laptops that defy the trend of all-metal cases. Usually, a mix of different high-performance plastics with magnesium and aluminum is used. Magnesium is also used in the Lenovo ThinkPad T15p, but surprisingly, Lenovo has made most of the case of this 2,000-Euro (~$2,424) laptop out of simple ABS plastic.

Some first alleged specs of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Book Pro and Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 laptops have been revealed. It seems buyers can expect to find an OLED screen in their new Galaxy Book Pro while there will be a choice of Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors. The Galaxy Book Pro and Pro 360 will be Windows-based devices.

With the PICO-TGU4, AAEON has created a compact single-board computer based on Intel's Tiger Lake platform. The PICO-TGU4 also offers up to 32 GB of RAM and a good selection of I/O, including 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, despite its size.