Articles about Laptop

I bought a Windows 10 PC, but not for me

My brother-in-law's Dell laptop, so old it shipped with, and still had, 1GB RAM, died last week. He emailed asking my buying advice about a Windows 7 replacement. Reasoning: He would move up from XP. But his dad stepped in, offered to pay, and I, acting as agent (being the more knowledgable about computers), suggested $400 budget. By coincidence, shopping day coincided with Windows 10's launch.

Timing couldn't be better, with the rush of new 10s, discounts to clear out old inventory, and typical back-to-school season sales. I expected to grab good gear. Choosing for my brother-in-law is quite different than for myself. I prefer something smaller and lighter, with high-resolution screen. He wanted a larger screen (we agreed on 15.6 inches), full-size keyboard, DVD player, and WiFi. Meaning: Roomy and backward-compatible with what he has already. I confidently looked for something within budget.

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Acer announces Windows 10 back-to-school computers

Microsoft's Windows 10 launches tomorrow, so naturally it is the topic du jour. Chatter about the operating system will likely dominate the tech news for many days and weeks after too. You know what? Good. It is a damn good operating system -- the best version of Windows ever -- and it deserves the attention.

While Windows 10 is a free upgrade for many Windows 7 and 8.x users, many others are still on XP and Vista machines. Rather than pay for a Windows 10 license, you should probably buy a new computer instead. I understand the economy is still bad, but new machines are surprisingly affordable. Today, one of my favorite value-focused manufacturers, Acer, announces a new line of Windows 10 computers. While the focus is on "back-to-school", these machines are great for non-students too. The best part? You can buy some of them starting tomorrow.

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Toshiba Portégé R30-A200SMB 13.3 inch business laptop [Review]

One size does not fit all when it comes to laptops. Sure, everyone loves a super-thin and sexy notebook, but business users in particular have much greater needs. For instance, an optical drive is much less popular with consumers nowadays, but many business workstations still have the need. Many consumers have moved on to HDMI and DisplayPort, but businesses still have older monitors and projectors that are VGA only, so a VGA port on a laptop is needed.

While Toshiba makes great consumer-grade computers, its business-class machines are where it truly shines. The 13.3 inch Portégé R30, a small and medium business laptop I have been testing lately, is no exception.

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Canonical partners with Lenovo to launch Ubuntu-powered ThinkPad L450 laptops in India

Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, has partnered with computer OEM Lenovo to launch the ThinkPad L450 series running the Linux distro in India. Starting at Rs 40,000, the laptops will be available to purchase from selected commercial resellers and distributors.

As for the specs of the ThinkPad L450 series, users have the choice of Intel Core i3 and i5 processors, paired with AMD Radeon R5 M240 2GB VRAM Intel HD 5500 GPU, 4GB of RAM, and 500GB hard drives. The laptops sport a 14-inch display with HD (1,280 x 720) screen resolution.

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Laptops to slim down with LG's thinner, lighter LCD panels

With portability in mind, laptop owners generally have two key concerns -- weight and battery life. Today LG announces a new range of thin and light LCD panels that will help to reduce the weight and size of laptops of the future.

The Advanced In-Cell Touch (AIT) panels are slimmer than traditional touch screens as they feature embedded touch sensors rather than a separate panel placed on top of the display. The panels will go into mass production in the second half of this year, bringing technology previously used by LG in smartphone screens to larger devices.

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Lenovo, if you make this retro ThinkPad, I'll give up my MacBook Air

It would take quite a laptop to bring me back to the Windows fold after using and enjoying a 13-inch Apple MacBook Air for nearly two years. I love the versatility Apple's device provides: it is light and portable, offers amazing battery life, has an awesome keyboard and trackpad, performs well, can run Windows and Linux alongside OS X and, on top of it all, looks quite nice as well. To be perfectly honest, there is nothing that I miss that could push me towards another laptop.

However, I am not exactly a normal person. I'll be the first to admit it. When I saw Lenovo's retro-inspired ThinkPad the first thing that crossed my mind was: "This ThinkPad is awesome. I have to have this". It just so happens that old-school-looking ThinkPads are like kryptonite to me. Imagine how I feel about this modern interpretation. There is only one problem -- this is a concept. But, Lenovo, if you make it and I can buy it, I will give up my MacBook Air to have it!

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Toshiba announces Windows 10-ready Satellite laptops with dedicated Cortana key

Windows 10 is coming on July 29th. With every new version of Windows, computer manufacturers launch new PCs. In fact, new versions of Microsoft's operating system are often looked at as a sales savior for the PC market.

Today, Toshiba launches its new line of Satellite laptops, and while most will ship with Windows 8.1, they are certainly a Windows 10 affair. Of course they will be eligible for a free upgrade, but more importantly, they will feature a dedicated Cortana key. Could a simple button be a game-changer for PCs?

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Google improves Chrome's power consumption

Google Chrome may be one of the most powerful and reliable browsers around, but it is also one of the biggest offenders when it comes to energy consumption. It does not matter if you are using a PC or Mac, or even iPhone or iPad, its impact on battery life is considerable.

Google is well aware of Chrome's shortcomings, now announcing that it is rolling out a number of changes in the coming months that are meant to improve the browser's power consumption. The first improvement targets Adobe Flash.

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AMD announces Windows 10-ready 6th generation A-Series notebook processors

When buying a laptop, there are some specific things you should look for, such as RAM, storage and battery life. You should also pick the size and weight that best meets your needs. When choosing a processor, however, you should really do your homework. Not all processors are created equal -- you can have two with identical clock speeds with extremely different performance.

Today, AMD announces its all-new 6th generation A-Series notebook processors (previously referred to as "Carizzo") and you should definitely take notice. Not only are these new notebook processors very powerful, but extremely capable too. Will your next laptop be powered by a 6th gen A-Series processor?

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Intel announces new fifth-generation 'Broadwell' Core i7, i5 processors

Intel announces new fifth-generation, Broadwell, Core i5 and i7 processors at Computex 2015

Computex 2015 is well underway. So far, we have talked about the most-interesting new products that ASUS and SanDisk have unveiled, taking a look at Transformer Book T100HA, EeeBook E403SA, ZenWatch 2, and the Extreme 900 portable SSDs.

And now it is Intel's turn to woo us with its new products. The US chip maker today announced 10 fifth-generation (more commonly known as Broadwell family) Core processors, for desktops and laptops -- part of the mid-range i5 and high-end i7 lines. Also new are five professional Xeon E3 solutions.

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IBM set to deploy Macs for its staff -- will employees give up PCs?

Apple refreshes MacBook Air and MacBook Pro range with speed boosts

Staff at tech giant IBM are set to use Apple Mac machines following the company’s one-year partnership with Apple for the creation of business-centric apps for the iOS.

IBM employees will be given the option to choose between a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or traditional PC for their new workstations and will be part of the company’s choose your own device policy, according to the company’s recent memo.

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ASUS announces Transformer Book T100HA Windows 10 tablet, and $299 Chromebook competitor

ASUS announces Transformer Book T100HA Windows 10 tablet

With Windows 10 becoming available to consumers as early as July 29, manufacturers are rushing to announce their first products powered by Microsoft's upcoming operating system. Lenovo unveiled its business-oriented ThinkPad 10 slate last week, and now it is ASUS' turn to join the Windows 10 bandwagon.

The Taiwanese maker has announced Transformer Book T100HA, a Windows 10 tablet that is designed to double as a small laptop replacement with the addition of a dedicated keyboard. So far, Transformer Book T100HA looks like the closest competitor that Microsoft's Surface 3 has.

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Lenovo unveils another Chromebook competitor -- $249 Windows 8.1 laptop

14-inch Lenovo ideapad 100 laptop $249

With PC shipments continuing on a downward slope, manufacturers are finding new ways to attract consumers. In the high-end segment, it is all about specs: high-resolution screens, lots of battery life, powerful processors and so on. But, at the other end of the spectrum, the focus is on value for money -- to a certain extent, it is about cramming as many nice things as possible into a package that does not break the bank.

Chromebooks are probably the offerings that best cater to this audience's needs, assuming folks can live without Windows on their new machines. If that is not the case, there are a couple of interesting options on the PC side, one of which is Lenovo's new ideapad 100 line.

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Lenovo Yoga 3 11 -- thin, light, beautiful, and wonderful [Review]

Lenovo's Yoga line of laptops has been a favorite of mine. In addition to Microsoft's Surface line, Yoga has proven to be a great way to experience Windows on a 2-in-1 with very little compromise. While I was a fan of the 13 inch Yoga variants, I found them a bit too large for my liking. Believe it or not, I prefer 11.6 inch laptops as I am always on the move; I'll turn anything into a work space as long as there is Wi-Fi (shout-out to Starbucks).

When I got the opportunity to review the all-new Lenovo Yoga 3 11, I was elated. Not only does the size and Yoga flexibility meet my needs, but Lenovo quality is something I am fond of too. Historically, I have found the manufacturer's hardware to be well-built and reliable. Will the Lenovo Yoga 3 11 match my high expectations?

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Apple refreshes 15-inch MacBook Pro, introduces cheaper 5K iMac

May 2015 base 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display

Apple has refreshed the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, beefing up its top-of-the-line laptop with a Force Touch trackpad, faster internal storage and dedicated graphics, and, of course, better battery life. Also new is a 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display configuration which kicks off at $1,999, $300 cheaper than the original model.

But these are not the only changes that Apple has announced. The original 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display now starts off at $200 less than before -- prior to this price-cut, it had been available from $2,499. Let us take a detailed look at what the new 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display brings to the table.

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