Jimmy Eat World didn’t concoct the masterpiece that is The Middle for nothing, you know. In yet another example of the middle muddying up the waters for everyone else, DisplaySearch has found that the vast majority of systems sold in America fall into the 15.6-inch category, despite the fact that many offer no gain in resolution over 12- and 13-inch ultraportables with 1,366 x 768 panels. The reason? For one, supply and demand. The sheer quantity of 15-inch machines on the market pushes prices south, and on days like Black Friday, rarely is any size as discounted as the tried-and-true 15-incher. The numbers here would show an even greater difference if the tablets were yanked, but what’s made clear is just how little interest is being shown by the masses to the outliers. In fact, Laptop found that MSI is officially putting the kibosh on its plans to ship the 13-inch X360 stateside, and a number of other manufacturers are mulling similar decisions (though “off the record”). So, are you helping to jumble up the middle, or are you a loud-and-proud 5-percenter?

Lessons in Bell Curves: 15-inch laptops still king, despite wealth of portable alternatives originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of these days AMD is gonna have to stop talking about its Atom-killing Bobcat and Xeon-ending Bulldozer cores and finally release them. But, until that happy moment arrives in 2011 (fingers crossed), we’ll have to content ourselves with more presentation slides. First up, the Bobcat core is AMD’s long overdue play for the netbook/ultrathin market. Pitched as having 90 percent of the performance of current-gen, K8-based mainstream chips, AMD’s new mobility core will require “less than half the area and a fraction of the power” of its predecessors. That sounds like just the recipe to make the company relevant in laptop purchasing decisions again, while a touted ability for the core to run on less than one watt of power (by lowering operating frequencies and voltages, and therefore performance) could see it appear in even smaller form factors, such as MIDs. The Bobcat’s now all set to become the centerpiece of the Ontario APU — AMD’s first Fusion chip, ahead of Llano — which will be ramping up production late this year, in time for an early 2011 arrival.

The Bulldozer also has a future in the Fusion line, but it’s earliest role will be as a standalone CPU product for servers and high-end consumer markets. The crafty thing about its architecture is that every one Bulldozer module will be counted as two cores. This is because AMD has split its internal processing pipelines into two (while sharing as many internal components as possible), resulting in a sort of multicore-within-the-core arrangement. The way the company puts it, it’s multithreading done right. Interlagos is the codename of the first Opteron chips to sport this new core, showing up at some point next year in a 16-core arrangement (that’s 8 Bulldozers, if you’re keeping score at home) and promising 50 percent better performance than the current Magny-Cours flagship. Big words, AMD. Now let’s see you stick to a schedule for once.

AMD’s Bobcat and Bulldozer, 2011 flagship CPU cores, detailed today originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s Arc Touch Mouse revealed? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Call ‘em suitable for business travelers (or whatever this guy is), or just call ‘em classy — either way, MSI has a new pair of 15.6-incher headed to North America. The P600 and S6000 don’t differ much; by and large, the only thing keeping them from merging into one is the smaller battery (and thus, lower weight) of the S6000. Both units boast Intel’s Core i5-450M processor, integrated GMA HD graphics, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 1,366 x 768 resolution panel, 3-in-1 card reader, 500GB hard drive, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, stereo speakers, HDMI / VGA outputs, a pair of USB 2.0 ports and an eSATA / USB combo jack. They’re both rocking Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) under the hood, with the S6000 and its 4-cell battery starting at $799.99 while the 8-cell’d P600 goes for $829.99 and up. In other words, your corporate card can totally handle either… or both.

Continue reading MSI ships Core i5-packin’ P600 and S6000 laptops to egomaniacal cube dwellers

MSI ships Core i5-packin’ P600 and S6000 laptops to egomaniacal cube dwellers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA teased us with the introduction of the 3D-ready G51JX back at Computex (you may remember it as one of the founding “3D PCs“), and now AVADirect is bringing that very machine to US soil. Said rig boasts a 15.6-inch display, Core i7-720QM processor, 6GB of DDR3 memory and a 1GB GeForce GTS 360M GPU. Better still, Clevo’s W860CU offers an identically sized display, NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 285M (1GB), Core i5 or i7 CPU options and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. Both units ship with all the necessary 3D Vision components to get your 3D kick on right from the box, with the ASUS going for around $1,600 and the Clevo for $1,800. Humility is free with purchase, we’re told.

Continue reading Clevo W860CU 3D and ASUS G51JX-3D bring three-dee to US laptopers

Clevo W860CU 3D and ASUS G51JX-3D bring three-dee to US laptopers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together? Or when a rumor plays out perfectly? We’re looking at a case of the latter here today, as HP’s oh-so-lovable 12-inch TouchSmart tm2 is now available to order with a Core i5 processor. Just months after gaining Core i3 support, the convertible tablet can now be ordered with a 1.2GHz Core i5-430UM (capable of hitting 1.73GHz with Turbo Boost). Said CPU can be paired with integrated Intel graphics or with a discrete ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5450, and 4GB of DDR3 RAM is standard on either configuration. Hit the links below to investigate further, but be sure to keep your plastic far, far away unless you’re kosher with impulse buys of a rather significant caliber.

HP TouchSmart tm2 gains Core i5 CPU option, a whole new level of respect originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP’s Pavilion dm1 has done an awfully great job of living in the shadows, but it’s just about time this 11.6-inch ultranote finally peek its head out to do battle with Gateway’s LT32 and the host of others slotted between netbook and ultraportable. At long last, the style-centered dm1z is up for sale, touting space for 5GB of DDR3 RAM, a 250GB hard drive (or a 128GB SSD), a 92 percent full-size keyboard, optional external DVD burner, a 6-cell battery good for up to 5.25 hours of usage, VGA webcam, three USB sockets, a 5-in-1 card reader and a 64-bit copy of Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional. On the CPU front, it’s AMD’s Athlon II Neo running the show, with a variety of choices ranging from 1.3GHz (K325) to 1.7GHz (K125); there’s also an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 GPU, 1,366 x 768 resolution panel, 802.11n WiFi, optional WWAN and a total weight of just 3.24 pounds. The whole shebang gets going at just $449.99, but don’t be shocked at how easy it is to push this cutie beyond six or seven Benjamins.

HP’s 11.6-inch Pavilion dm1 goes on sale originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looking for a Mini that has a little more to offer in the processor department? HP has thoughtfully upgraded the Mini 110 and Mini 210 to offer your choice of Intel’s N455 or N475 Atom processors. Those chips bring DDR3 memory compatibility to the table, which both netbooks now offer by default, while the optional N475 brings either one up to 1.88GHz — though you’ll have to pay an extra $25 as proof of your commitment to handle that sort of blazing performance. The default 110 with 1GB of memory starts at $280 right now, while a base 210 will set you back $330.

HP Mini 110 and 210 netbooks get Atom N455 and N475 accoutrement originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Our tips inbox rarely becomes flooded with news on a surprise laptop release, but such is the vibe that HP’s stylish Envy series seems to inspire — and now it looks as though that May-officiated 14.5-inch model is on sale for public consumption, albeit with a starting price just one Benjamin higher than expected. Base model nets you a 2.4GHz Intel Core i3-370M, 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650, 4GB RAM, and a 320GB 7,200rpm HDD… but if you want to go wild and crazy, crank it up to a Core i7, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD for a cool $2,139.99. Well-loved aesthetics are there, and last we heard HP was still touting a possible eight hours of battery life. Your credit card may not be happy, but you could be.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

HP Envy 14 now on sale for both the washed and unwashed masses originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sit back and sprinkle a few new processors into its Pavilion line up? Nope, that’s exactly what HP didn’t do this year when it came to refreshing its successful multimedia laptop brand. Instead, it has remade the entire series by subbing plastic for metal, adding a chiclet keyboard and trimming down the measurements. The 14-inch Pavilion dm4 is one of the more portable of the bunch, and though it’s only slightly thicker than an inch, our $905 review unit packed a Core i5 processor, 320GB hard drive and 4GB of RAM. It sure does sound and look like a really tempting mainstream laptop, but one thing in particular continues to hold HP back. And we’ll tell you just what that is… in our full review after the break!

Continue reading HP Pavilion dm4 review

HP Pavilion dm4 review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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