Articles about Laptop

I am a strong believer in the saying "you get what you pay for." It's been my experience that price is a reflection of quality (design, performance, build quality, customer support, you name it), so when I look at an affordable device I tend to lower my expectations. Case in point, before taking the Chuwi LapBook 14.1 out of the box, I thought it wouldn't be much better than the other Chinese laptop I reviewed, the Jumper Ezbook 2.

Why? Because it promises a lot of things for the money: a 14.1-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1,920 by 1,080, 1.1GHz quad-core Intel "Apollo Lake" Celeron N3450 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, microSD card slot, microHDMI port, two USB ports, a webcam, a 9,000mAh battery, and Windows 10 Home for a retail price of $299.99. And, boy, was I proven wrong. The LapBook 14.1 punches far above its price tag would suggest.

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Apple today releases updates for all its major operating systems, introducing iOS 10.2.1, macOS Sierra 10.12.3, tvOS 10.1.1 and watchOS 3.1.3. The latest builds do not add any new features, as the focus is on improving the existing functionality and squashing bugs.

Mac users are treated with the lengthiest changelog, and users of the latest MacBook Pros (October 2016 models) should be particularly interested in it. That's because Apple improved graphics switching on the 15-inch MacBook Pro and fixed graphics issues that occurred while using Adobe Premiere Pro to encode projects on both 13-inch and 15-inch Touch Bar-equipped MacBook Pros.

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Mobile devices might be the hottest thing nowadays, but PCs are still important for many people, and Intel knows it. The company has announced new series of processors aimed at desktop computers and performance laptops.

The S series is designed for desktops. The H series is meant for high-end laptops and mobile workstations. The Y-series is for ultra-thin machines, and the U-series for ultraportables. As one might expect from new processors, these chips are expected to be faster, and consume less energy.

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Smartphones are great for doing a spot of work in a pinch, but they aren’t really a substitute for a laptop.

The Mirabook solves this problem by giving your smartphone all the capabilities of a laptop, including a large full HD screen, a keyboard, touchpad, additional storage, and a high capacity battery.

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It may be hard to believe, but Acer has a gaming laptop that is almost as expensive as a new car. It's called the Predator 21 X, and it has the craziest design and most-impressive specs sheet that I have ever seen. The price? It will be offered for a jaw-dropping $8,999 in the US and €9,999 in Europe.

Acer actually unveiled the Predator 21 X at IFA 2016, but only chose to reveal the price and availability right before CES 2017 kicks off this week. So, what exactly makes it so special to warrant that price tag?

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A week after updating a large number of devices in the ThinkPad range with new Intel "Kaby Lake" processors, Microsoft Precision TouchPads and Windows 10 Signature Edition, Lenovo now unveils a refresh for the ThinkPad X1 line that is meant to improve mobility, connectivity, and usability.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is one of the three updated devices in the ThinkPad X1 line, which is showcased at CES 2017. Like other new ThinkPads, it gets a Precision Touchpad, but it is also smaller, offers more battery life, can be had with a Qualcomm modem, packs Thunderbolt 3 ports, and offers expanded docking capabilities. Oh, and it's also launched in a silver trim.

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The year 2016 is when the United States sold its soul to Donald Trump and I signed over mine to Apple. How's that for introduction to the five favs series, joining colleagues Alan Buckingham, Brian Fagioli, and Wayne Williams? Yup. I'm an Apple whore as 2017 opens onto its second day. The fruit-logo company won back my business as I gave up the Google lifestyle. Three main reasons: 1) I believed CEO Tim Cook's privacy promises, all while my concerns about Big G information collection increased. 2) I found the visual acuity of Apple fonts and user interfaces to be far superior to Google's, which helped compensate for diminishing reading vision (later recovered through eye surgery). 3) Google's platforms proved inadequate for easily recording, producing, and publishing the Frak That! podcast (a fun side project).

My contribution to the series is a bit disingenuous, though. I wouldn't call these "My favorite tech items of 2016". They are what I bought, or was released, last year that I use most often, regardless of their benefits and flaws. Each will get belated review sometime during the next few months. Consider this story each's preview. Okay, let's get to them.

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If you need a Windows 10 laptop, you really can't go wrong with the Dell XPS 13 -- it has great specs and exceptional battery life. Heck, the company even sells a version pre-loaded with Ubuntu, making it a popular choice for Linux users too.

While you could configure the laptop with a touchscreen, there was no option for a convertible 2-in-1 version, sadly. This was particularly disappointing, since Windows 10 works wonderfully on both a laptop and a tablet. This is soon to change, apparently, as Dell has leaked a new version of the laptop -- seemingly by accident -- on its website.

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Consumer Reports played nasty, little Santa's helper by plopping a piece of chunky coal into Apple's Christmas stocking, when denying the coveted—and expected—recommendation. Holy Moly. Over the holiday, the InterWebs exploded with stories during an otherwise, slow tech news cycle. CR found widely, or perhaps wildly, inconsistent charge-to-depletion times for MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. Uh-oh. At least the lap-hugger isn't explodin', like the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. B-b-b-boom!

Perhaps, like me, you bought or received as present, one of these newfangled Macs. I have some questions about your experience starting with: How's your battery life? Do you get enough from the laptop to justify the price increase over last year's model? If you bought, or received, something else, did news about battery life affect the decision? Since we're all sharing our deepest, innermost MacBook Pro secrets, from here I will reveal my own. I bought not one, but two. Problems with the first, but not the second, and possible remedy will be familiar to long-time Windows users.

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If you want a thin and light laptop, Apple is usually the way to go. Its computers are designed to be both durable and beautiful while also being very svelte. Windows laptops, however, have historically been more heavy and made of cheap plastic with a focus on affordability -- beauty and skinniness be damned.

Lately, computers running Microsoft's operating system have been much nicer -- sometimes giving Apple a run for its money. The Surface Book, for instance, is a work of art. Today, Samsung refreshes its Notebook 9 laptops with a focus on being extremely portable -- very thin and light. In fact, it is lighter than the 2016 MacBook Pro -- holy cow. Unlike Apple's newest laptops -- which run the older 6th generation Skylake processors -- Samsung's machines have the latest-and-greatest 7th gen Kaby Lake Core i5 and i7 processors.

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As much as I tried not to spill anything on my beloved MacBook Air, last month I knocked over a cup of coffee, getting almost all of it over the keyboard. I feared this would happen, but I did not think it would happen to me. I'm super careful with any coffee, soda or water that I bring to my desk. But, the thing I dreaded the most happened.

There was coffee all over the keyboard, touchpad and the left side of my Mac. It is not a pretty sight, unless you are dying to get a new laptop -- which, really, wasn't the case. Knowing that liquid damage can be the end of it, I quickly powered it off, turned it upside down, and the coffee started to drain from it. With a bit of luck, I knew that I could fix it. And I did. Here is how I did it and what I learned from it.

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HP has just announced a new security solution, called the Sure Start Gen3, and a new laptop series, the EliteBook 800 G4 series. These new notebooks will be shipped with the security solution, which is why HP is calling them the "world's most secure and manageable PC".

The solution handles the computer's BIOS, and makes sure no tampering can occur on that microlevel, whatsoever. "HP Sure Start Gen3 will help prevent such attacks by automatically detecting tampering attempts with the BIOS (both in pre-boot and run-time), notifying the user of a problem and restoring the BIOS to its original pristine condition from a copy stored on a dedicated computer chip. In that sense, it’s self-healing", Hp promises. HP also says this solution works great with Windows 10, as it also protects the data governing BIOS configuration and policy.

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Apple is obsessed with making its products smaller and lighter -- and this shows with the latest-generation MacBook Pro. Both the 13-inch and 15-inch models are more portable than their predecessors, making the prosumer line a much better choice for road warriors. But, knowing that Apple does not always give without taking away, what is the catch?

Well, in the quest to improve the new MacBook Pro line, Apple has made them harder to repair and upgrade. The company is not renowned for making laptops that are easy to service, but with the 2016 MacBook Pro line it is taking things to the next level.

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Apple's latest MacBook Pro is a connectivity nightmare. If you opt for the base 13-inch model you only get two USB Type-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports -- but when you charge it you can only use one. The pricier models do feature twice as many ports but, regardless, you still need to buy a bunch of dongles to use your existing devices with it -- or replace them with new ones.

However, if you are in the market for a new MacBook Pro your options are not as limited as they seem, as OWC just unveiled a 13-port hub -- called Thunderbolt 3 Dock -- that lets you use all of your peripherals and accessories with the new laptop. Let's take a look at what it includes.

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Last Wednesday, Microsoft revealed, among other things, an updated Surface Book. The following day, Apple introduced a new MacBook Pro. Both devices look great, sport powerful innards and come with a suitably high price tag.

Which you go for will likely depend on whether you’re a fan of Microsoft or Apple, but if you’re not firmly entrenched in either camp, and need a little guidance to decide which laptop to go for, here are all the details you need.

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