Notebook Sleuth » Derek

Slickness Personified: The new line of Sony VAIO

Derek — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:56:03 +0000

Sony’s laptops have been known for two things: slick design and (previously) rather high price tags for the specs you get (see: previous Sony post). Here, Sony seems to have gotten better with both.

Sony today announced and will soon make available for sale two new units for the VAIO Z Series: the VAIO VPCZ11Z9E and VAIO VPCZ11X9E.

The Sony VAIO VPCZ11Z9E includes Core i7-620m CPUs from 2.66GHZ up to 3.33GHZ in speed, and include a hefty 6GB of DDR3 RAM each, a 13.1 inch (1920 x 1080) LED screen that sounds pretty nice and a 256GB Quad SSD as well for ultra fast seek times.

Meanwhile, the Sony VAIO VPCZ11X9E features Core i7-620m processors from 2.4GHz to 2.93GHZ in horsepower and 4GB DDR3 RAM, 128GB Quad SSD, and a 13.1-inch (1600 x 900) LED.

Expect these in stores/websites around mid-March 2010 and average around the $1,000 mark or so, which is tame compared to previous Sony pricing models.

Playing Games: The iBuyPower Battalion Touch CZ-10 Gaming Notebook

Derek — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:32:10 +0000

iBuyPower is a small company that makes larger powered specialty systems (similar to Alienware) and has been around for a little while now. They’re launching a new gaminjg targeted line shortly, and here’s more about it.

The company is now taking pre-orders for the Battalion Touch CZ-10 Gaming Notebook, targeted with a fast processor for maximum gaming enjoyment. It starts at around $999, which is fairly competitive, and it includes a 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 touchscreen, a powerful 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile P8700 Dual-Core processor, the also strong ATI Radeon HD 4650 512MB graphics card, 2GB DDR3 SDRAM (this could stand some bulking up, to be honest), 250GB hard drive (see last spec note), 2MP webcam, a DVD burner, WiFi and Windows 7 Home Premium OS as well.

Good package, fair price.

The Gaming Netbook: The AlienWare M11X

Derek — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:40:29 +0000

Laptops aren’t usually designed to be big-time gaming devices; they’re mostly for business and portable office application, but the Alienware M11x may change that. They’re a company that has produced high-end systems and laptops for years now, and their latest announcement will shake up what traditional ‘netbooks’ can do.

This one starts with a high-res 11″ display and can play all games and media in HD at 720p, unusual for any kind of netbook.

The annoying thing: Alienware has not released full specs on the M11x. They did say that you can connect it to your HDTV for maximum carnage visibility, and a six+ hour battery will be included. The Alienware M11x will sell for around the sub-$1,000 mark, a real steal for any system from this company. Look for it at retail around summer time or so.

A Shot Across the Netbook Waters: The Gateway LT2102H

Derek — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:04:31 +0000

Gateway joined the mass market netbook parade officially with the release of their new model, the LT2102H, only in Canada for now. It’s assumed it will go elsewhere if it does well. It’s available at Future Shop, a vendor in Canada.

It is scheduled to start at the $299.99 mark, this entry-level ultra-portable laptop will features a 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 LED screen, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 CPU, a Intel GMA 3150 graphics card built-in, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, webcam, WiFi, a 3-cell battery and Windows 7 Starter OS.

It’s slick but fairly basic, but the price tag is very suitable for most any budget, a welcome cry for Gateway fans across Canadian waters.

Like a Dream: The Dreambook Light U11

Derek — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:07:29 +0000

Pioneer Computers is a small outfit in Australia that happens to be the leading producer of PCs in the region, and they’re making a splash in the notebook arena with their newest line, The DreamBook Light U1.

Design is expected to be mighty slick as you can see, and specs are reported to include: a 11.6-inch display, the requisite (these days) Intel dual core SU2300 or SU4100 processor and 4GB of RAM. Plenty to run pretty much anything.

Additional features round out the solid offering: Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel Webcam, 3 USB ports and memory card reader. The DreamBook Light U11 will sell for $630, which is fairly average for this type of notebook.

CPU Envy: The HP Envy 15 15-1050NR Laptop

Derek — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:43:47 +0000

HP’s rep in the PC industry has been taking some hits recently (mostly in the reliability category), but they make some really slick laptops, you have to admit. This latest in the Envy line is one example in point.

HP has announced the upcoming release of the 15-1050NR, a model in their Envy 15 laptop line designed to do most of what a desktop can do, and is one of the more powerful laptops we’ve yet covered.

Street priced around $1,999 (you can find it lower in some outlets no doubt), this slick notebook specs include: 15.6-inch LED-backlit Brightview 1080p display, a powerful Intel Core i7-720QM 1.6GHz processor, 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card, 6GB DDR3 RAM, roomy 500GB HDD, a unique NightVision webcam, external USB DVD+/-RW, WiFi, 6-cell Polymer battery, a secondary 9-cell battery included too, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit included as well.

Dressed Up: The Packard Bell Dot VR46 Valentino Rossi Edition Laptop

Derek — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:46:33 +0000

Once upon a time, Packard Bell made computers. Back then, they weren’t considered a premium brand, to put it mildly. Nowadays, their computers tend to be more stylized and consumer friendly (and more reliable), and this newest release announcement is no exception.

Packard Bell today made the release of a slick new laptop for Valentino Rossi fans, the Packard Bell Dot VR46 Valentino Rossi edition. It appears as though they assume many users won’t care about the specs, and that could be true of something this stylishly unique.

No specs were announced with the release, but rumors are swirling already that its a Packard Bell Dot M/U, itself a rebadged version of the Acer Aspire 1410. If that rumor holds up, it’ll include a Intel CULV processor, the newest Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics card, and a 11.6-inch display. We’ll let you know if that spec changes.

Thin Reasoning: The Dell Vostro V13 Laptop

Derek — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:43:36 +0000

Dell is always good for some slim and slick designs for their desktops and laptops, and this is no exception, for certain. It’s a economical and ultra-take on the traditional power business laptop, the Vostro V13 line.

It’s thin all right: measuring only 16.5mm thick and weighing an absurdly light 4 lbs, this wafer rocket includes a decent sized 13.3-inch 1366 x 768 LED-backlit screen, a Intel Core 2 Duo ULV processor (for power savings), an Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics card (the top among the integrated cards), roomy 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, a 1.3MP webcam, Bluetooth, and MS’s Windows 7 OS.

Price starts at around $449, so even the most budget minded can carry around something pretty modern and nice to do their business on.

Long-Lasting Goodness: Acer 2010 Aspire Timeline 3810TG Notebook

Derek — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:05:55 +0000

Battery life is a frequent complain of laptops in general, and for some reason, Acer laptops in particular. The company is listening, it appears, because their newest line improves big time on that aspect.

Acer announced its new 2010 Aspire Timeline 3810TG series – to be sold first in the Korean market, according to reports. The specs as reported are pretty nice as well, including Intel’s latest CPU marvel.

The laptop includes Intel’s latest Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor packaged with 4GB DDR3 RAM, a roomy (for a laptop anyway) 320GB hard disk drive, an ATI Radeon HD4330 graphics card and Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium OS.

It’s got the thinness many desire these days too, measuring less than 1-inch thick and its easy to tote around too, weighing 1.7kg. The 3810TG also supports a 13.3-inch HD display with 1366 x 768 resolution and the aforementioned long-life 9-cell battery pack that provides up to 12 hours of operation time.

The Acer 2010 Aspire 3810TG Series is priced at 1,000,000 Won or approx. $866 USD, a very competitive price tag considering its features.

Big Time: The Acer Aspire 5739G-MX24

Derek — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:02:12 +0000

Acer is slowly moving into the higher end laptop market after spending a lot of time in the lower-end shopping channel/netbook sector. They’ll try their hand first in Japan with the new Aspire 5739G-MX24. The specs are mighty impressive for a laptop.

Specs include a 15.6″ LCD display and packing a powerful Intel Core 2 Duo P8800 2.66GHz processor, this one means business for nearly any kind of use you could think of.

Graphics are powered by a NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M 1GB card, and packing 4GB RAM, a 500GB hard drive, a 5.1 channel speaker and has Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OS.

It’ll be up for purchase in Japan very soon (if not already available) for 119,800 Yen (about $1,384 USD).