Posts Tagged ‘Notebook’

Eurocom Announces Monster 1.0 Ultraportable Gaming Notebook

May 18th, 2012

It’s no secret that Eurocom makes some incredibly spec-heavy notebooks and mobile workstations. Often, those high-performing mamba jambas are also rather weighty and bulky, but the company has apparently accepted the challenge (and possibly felt market pressure) to create something smaller that still packs a punch for gamers.

The Monster 1.0 is the fruit of that labor, an ultraportable gaming notebook that sports an 11.6-inch (1366×768) backlit LED display and runs on an Intel Core i7-3820QM processor, NVIDIA GT 650M (2GB) graphics adapter, and up to 16GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory (over two sockets). The notebook can handle up to 1TB of storage in a variety of SATA2 or SATA3 configurations, including support for HDDs, SSDs, and hybrid drives.

Weighing in at 3.96lbs, the Monster 1.0 has plenty of I/O ports including USB 2.0, a pair of USB 3.0, HDMI 1.4a, VGA, headphone and mic, and Gigabit LAN. Battery life isn’t quite a featured specification here, as although it’s listed for up to 410 minutes (almost 7 hours), a review linked to in the press release clocked it at closer to 4 hours.

The EUROCOM Monster “achieves its goal of packing the most amount of power in the smallest package possible while still maintaining usability. Stuffing the latest Intel Core i7 quad-core processor and a powerful Nvidia GT 650M graphics card in an 11.6” chassis is no small engineering feat. Overall performance is outstanding for any task, especially gaming. The W110ER (EUROCOM Monster) is a great travel companion thanks to its four pound weight and durable exterior… The four hours of battery life should suffice” Notebook Review.com.

The EUROCOM Monster 1.0 provides an increased level of simplicity and functionality which users cannot get in a Tablet, Netbook or Ultrabook. With a full complement of IO ports, the EUROCOM Monster is far more functional than the vast majority of ultra portables on the market.

EUROCOM Monster 1.0 users have an NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M graphics processor, with 2GB of video memory, 384 cores, with the graphics clock running at 850 MHz. This graphics powerhouse is the ultimate mobile gaming system. The Monster also supports NVIDIA Optimus technology for enhanced battery life combined with extreme performance.

“The Monster 1.0 features an amazing form factor, great built quality, superb keyboard, reasonable price tag, and .. yeah, Monster like performance, which you really don’t expect to see in such small laptop” explains Nadav Appel, Eurocom Customer.

The EUROCOM Monster 1.0 combines the best of both worlds of power and performance with support for high performance Intel Ivy Bridge processors, up to Intel Core i7-3820QM with 4 cores, 8 threads, 8 MB L3 Cache running at 2.70 GHz with Max Turbo frequency being 3.7 GHz.

Memory comes via two sockets, with support for up to 16 GB of DDR3 1600 memory.

The EUROCOM Monster supports Solid State Drives, Hard Disks and Hybrid Drives, with support for up to I TB of storage, SATA 2 and SATA 3 storage devices.

“The EUROCOM Monster 1.0 is the perfect system for individuals who live a fast paced lifestyle, who also require high performance computing. The EUROCOM Monster 1.0 is a lightweight system with over 4 hours of battery life, making it the perfect system for travelers, business professionals, gamers and students” states Mark Bialic, Eurocom President.

EUROCOM Monster 1.0 Benchmarks
Eurocom technicians have been testing and benchmarking the EUROCOM Monster 1.0 with various configurations and testing suites. This is done to ensure all of the published configurations function accordingly. Below is a selection of the testing that has been done.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/Eurocom-Announces-Monster-10-Ultraportable-Gaming-Notebook/

Acer Introduces Ivy Bridge-Equipped TravelMate P243 Notebook Range

May 18th, 2012

Unsure if you’ve noticed, but Ultrabooks have been looking mighty sharp of late. With vendor after vendor aiming for an ever-tighter, slimmer piece of the notebook pie, Acer has outdone itself with the new TravelMate P243 series. It’s actually designed for small businesses, but there’s nothing here stopping the average consumer from digging in.

Aside from clean, classic good looks and an all-black frame, it’ll be powered by Intel’s 3rd-gen Core processors with Turbo Boost technology.

The new line is available with NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M graphics, enabling DirectX 11 support. It’ll also ship with Acer ProShield Security, a suite of security and manageability tools integrated in a unified user interface.

Acer ProShield features pre-boot authentication (PBA) and protects the notebook from BIOS level all the way to application level. It allows creating a Personal Secure Drive (PSD) to seamlessly store and encrypting all critical files, so that even if the notebook is stolen or lost the data cannot be accessed.

Unwanted files or folders can be permanently removed beyond recovery thanks to the File Shredder utility. Finally, it offers the automated solution to manage IT assets remotely and on the go.

Another layer of security is offered by Acer Backup/eRecovery Manager to backup your valuable data and media library and protect your assets. Recovery is on demand thanks to Acer eRecovery Manager. Wake-on-LAN allowing a computer to be turned on by a network message, provides remote management options.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/Acer-Introduces-Ivy-BridgeEquipped-TravelMate-P243-Notebook-Range/

MSI Introduces Powerful GE60 and GE70 Notebooks For Gaming

May 11th, 2012

MSI announced the GE60 and GE70 gaming laptops which feature Intel’s newest third generation quad core processors and Nvidia’s GT650M discrete graphics card. The machines weigh about 5.51 and 6.17 pounds, respectively. In addition to Intel third generation Core i7 quad core processors and Nvidia GeForce GT 650M discrete graphics, the GE60 and GE70 feature MSI’s TDE (Turbo Drive Engine) technology to give you an extra power boost while running resource-hungry 3D games and applications. The notebooks also utilize MSI’s Cooler Boost technology to help keep the system cool and stable. The 15.6-inch GE60 and the 17.3-inch GE70 both feature SteelSeries keyboards, MSI Audio Boost, USB3.0 ports, and a 720p, 30 fps HD webcam.

Slim and light, MSI’s GE60 and GE70 are the most powerful and boast the best display performance of any gaming laptops in history. MSI has once again stolen the world spotlight with its latest and greatest—the GE60 and GE70. Under the hood, they feature Intel’s newest third generation quad core processors and nVidia’s top-of-the-line GT650M discrete graphics card, while tipping the scales at just 2.5 and 2.8kgs, respectively. These NBs meet your need for machines that are both lean and mean. In addition, they sport envelope-pushing SteelSeries gaming keyboards, MSI’s own Audio Boost sound solution, and snazzy contoured sport lines. Light and powerful, these NBs will give you the edge in extreme video game competitions.

Taipei—MSI has received high marks from all quarters for its high-end gaming laptops, including being selected for Innovations Honorees at the CES 2012, the IT industry’s equivalent of an Oscar. Now, MSI is introducing the GE60 and GE70—the ultimate in next generation gaming notebooks. They feature Intel’s third gen quad core processor and new generation Nvidia GeForce GT 650M discrete graphics card. Specially designed to meet the extreme demands of extreme gamers around the world. These killer notebooks also boast awesome peripherals.

Over the top—MSI’s newest GE gaming laptop

Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, points out that MSI’s soon-to-be-unveiled, next generation of versatile gaming NBs—the GE60 and GE70 feature sport lines, while weighing in at only 2.5 and 2.8 kilograms, respectively. They are the trimmest and most powerful battle laptops on the planet today and are the top choice of top players around the world (Top player, top choice!). Not only do they feature the epoch-marking processor using 22nm production technology, they also pack Nvidia’s latest GT650M discrete graphics card and MSI’s overclocking technology which were key in their breaking 10,000 points on 3D Mark Vantage (P Score). They also come with the innovative Audio boost solution—a world first developed by MSI, AMP (Audio Modulated Processor for earphones), and gold plated jacks, bringing the new generation cinema-grade quality sound to an all-new level.

Incredible performance for incredible graphics

Intel 3rd generation Core i7 quad core processor: The GE60 and GE70, MSI’s new generation gaming notebooks, feature the Intel third generation Core i7 quad core processor. This cutting-edge processing platform employs 22nm production technology, currently the most advanced on the planet, enhancing processing performance by as much as 15% over the previous generation, while saving power and optimizing cooling capabilities. To kick up performance a few more notches, the new generation Intel Core i7 processor supports Intel Turbo Boost 2.0, a technology which automatically allocates processor resources in accordance with processor load, thereby enhancing the core speed of each core to maximize computer performance.

Nvidia’s high performance GeForce GT 650M discrete graphics card: The powerful MSI GE60 and GE70 come locked and loaded with the Nvidia GeForce GT 650M discrete graphics card which boasts 2GB GDDR5 of display memory to give it the most advanced hardware. These machines boast over 10,000 points on 3D Mark Vantage (P Score). That coupled with the fact that it supports DirectX 11 and Nvidia PhysX technologies. You will be amazed by the detail in explosions going off all around you, smoke and dust over battlefields, as well as wisps of clouds and rippling water in adventure games.

MSI’s TDE overclocking technology: MSI’s new generation GE60 and GE70 gaming NBs come with MSI’s own TDE (Turbo Drive Engine technology), so when you’re running resource-hungry 3D games, overclocking kicks in automatically to instantly rev up system speeds. The GE60 and GE70 also include MSI’s Cooler Boost technology. Simply depress the glowing hotkey above the keyboard to switch on the powerful cooling capabilities to immediately reduce system temperature and increase system stability.

Sport lines a visual cue to the power within

Speed and aerodynamics of a cheetah: The GE60 and GE70—MSI’s new generation of battle laptops, weigh just 2.5kg and 2.8kg, respectively. Who says great things don’t come in small packages? The sport lines on the cover are reminiscent of a cheetah and represent speed and power. The metalloid chassis is sheathed in the latest laser-etched Color Film Print which is not only looks cool, but also protects against scratching and wear. The red cheetah eye design further layers their aesthetic beauty. Pick the 15.6-inch GE60 or 17.3-inch GE70 as they will give you the edge you need when the call to battle sounds.

MSI Audio Boost solution: To give you unequaled surround stereo sound, the GE60 and GE70 gaming laptops employ MSI Audio Boost solution technology to bring next-generation sound technology to an even higher level of perfection. The audio output employs a gold flash audio jack, which although expensive, is the best conductor there is. It also prevents oxidation, enhances transmission efficiency, and reduces noise, endowing the GE60 and GE70 with crisp, clear, high fidelity stereo sound. In addition, the built-in earphone AMP even gives headsets superior acoustics, so you experience stereo sound to give you a sense of space and directions when playing and no lag when listening to game sounds or when talking with teammates. It doesn’t get any better than this.

The ultimate weapons, the ultimate peripherals

Unparalleled professional-grade SteelSeries keyboard: Responding to cries from gamers, MSI got together with gaming equipment manufacturer SteelSeries to create a keyboard for the GE60 and GE70. Not only is the keyboard more rugged, the Windows function key has been repositioned to the right side to reduce the possibility of accidently striking it when you’re surrounded by bad guys.

Latest USB3.0 ports: The GE60 and GE70 come with USB3.0 which boasts transfer speeds of 4.8Gbps—10 times faster than USB2.0, so a 25Gb HD film transfers in just 70 seconds. It also provides 80% more power for vastly faster charging speeds for external hard drives, flash drives, and other handheld electronic devices.

Full array of HD features: The GE60 and GE70 sport anti-glare full HD screens which are 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch in size, respectively, for the best possible visuals. The 720p, 30 fps HD webcam gives you smooth video and impeccable resolution when conferencing with friends and family. If you want something bigger than a high definition computer screen for viewing films, the MSI GE60 and GE70 gaming laptops also come with an HDMI 1.4 port, so any type of high-fidelity, high-definition video can be played on your NB, but viewed via a cable on a large-screen LCD television.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/MSI-Introduces-Powerful-GE60-and-GE70-Notebooks-For-Gaming/

Notebook shipments forecast to rise 8% in second quarter

April 4th, 2012

Worldwide notebook computer shipments will post better-than-expected figures in the second quarter of 2012 thanks to launches of new chips and ultra-thin laptops, as well as the recovery of the hard drive disk supply, a British investment bank predicted recently.

After three consecutive quarters of lower-than-average seasonal shipments, Barclays Capital looks for personal computer shipments to beat seasonal expectations for the first time in four quarters.

The bank expects notebook (NB) shipments from top-tier Taiwanese original design manufacturers (ODMs) to grow 8 percent subsequently in the second quarter of this year to reach 39.8 million units, better than the seasonal average of 6 percent.

The top five ODMs are Quanta Computer Inc., Compal Electronics Inc., Wistron Corp., Inventec Corp. and Pegatron Corp., and they account for around 90 percent of global NB shipments.

“We believe most of the shipment upside is due to channel inventory refilling for Intel Corp.’s new Ivy Bridge chips and the next generation of Ultrabook launches, combined with hard drive disk price declines from better supply availability,”said Kirk Yang, head of Asia ex-Japan tech hardware research at Barclays Bank, Hong Kong.

“However, the recent change of Chongqing’s leadership in China could bring significant uncertainties for this new western China manufacturing center in terms of the new government’s commitment and future financial incentives for NB ODMs,”he wrote in a report to clients.

Over the past several quarters, NB ODMs have been aggressively trying to diversify to other non-NB products, such as LCD TVs, servers, tablet PCs and smartphones, in order to mitigate the impact from weakening demand for NBs, Yang said.

However, Yang believed that only Quanta has demonstrated the capability to both diversify away from NBs and maintain profitability at the same time.

According to Barclays’ report, Compal still saw close to 80 percent revenue exposure to NBs and has seen its operating margin drop to the lowest point over the past 16 quarters, while Wistron still has 60 percent revenue exposure to NBs with LCD TV shipments turning weaker and weaker.

Pegatron derives 60 percent of its revenue from the cloud computing business but its margin on NBs is just slightly above break-even point, while Inventec still has 70 to 75 percent reven

Source:http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aALL&ID=201204040005

AVADirect’s Clevo P270WM Gaming Notebook Now Packing the NVIDIA GTX 675M

April 3rd, 2012

A leading custom computer manufacturer, announced that they are now selling the new Nvidia GTX 675M graphics processing unit. The GTX 675M is based off of the previous 580M graphics processing unit that Nvidia integrated in mobile platforms in the past year. They produced ground-breaking performance benchmarks, and reached a whole new level of capabilities that were not tapped by the graphics community, until now. The GTX 675M promises to breach the mobile performance barrier and leave less to be desired.
The GTX 675M provides an array of new features for enthusiasts and professionals to take advantage of:

NVIDIA 3D vision has always been featured in select models. Now, the P270WM notebook offered by AVADirect will have full support allowing enthusiasts to become fully immersed in the experience. NVIDIA 3DTV Play makes connecting an HDMI cable to the P270WM more simple than ever. Allowing AVADirect’s customers to display 3D content on supported HDTVs to include Blu-Ray playback, 3D photos, and favorite game titles! Nvidia Verde support, being excitingly new, will maximize the full power capability of the P270WM creating continuous performance and optimizations for various tasks.

One of the most unique features involves the Hardware Video Editing Acceleration, which combines high-definition video decode acceleration and post-processing to create stutter-free video with immense picture clarity, accurate color, and exact image scaling for real-time mastering of various projects. More importantly, NVIDIA Optimus is supported, to assist with conserving battery life, and supports the new PCI-Express 3.0 interface to deliver ground-breaking performance in a mobile platform, being the P270WM Gaming Notebook.

Coupled with support for the NVIDIA GTX 675M, the Clevo P270WM will have the ability to house four hard disks for a total of 4TB of mobile storage. This support will increasingly grow as hard disk manufacturers seek to increase the capacity of their notebook hard disks, thus assisting AVADirect with providing an even more unique, and truly custom product; available for enthusiasts and professional to take full advantage of. The P270WM has native support for three hard disks total, but upgrading to four will force removal of the optical drive bay.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/AVADirects-Clevo-P270WM-Gaming-Notebook-Now-Packing-the-NVIDIA-GTX-675M/

Toshiba Portege R835: Less Ultra, More Notebook

March 31st, 2012

With the deluge of ultrabooks stemming from Intel’s initiative over the past few months, it’s easy to forget ultraportables have been a part of the Windows PC landscape for quite some time. One of the unlikeliest sources was Toshiba; in 2010, a company that had been spending the last few years aggressively pursuing budget consumers produced a remarkably compelling ultraportable in the form of the Portege R700. We reviewed the R700 and found a lot to like, and Toshiba must have appreciated the notebook’s excellent performance in both critical and commercial arenas.

Despite the steady march of progress with ultrabooks (due to get a shot in the arm soon with Ivy Bridge), Toshiba’s Portege R700 hasn’t gone untouched. Toshiba refreshed it with the R835, keeping the same basic chassis but enjoying the benefits of Sandy Bridge hardware and USB 3.0 connectivity. Forced to compete in a market with ultrabooks, the R835 strengthens the R700’s value proposition with models starting at just $799 and featuring full voltage mobile processors from Intel while maintaining the same portable form factor.

Ultrabooks offer a healthy amount of performance in the sleekest of form factors, but sometimes end users just need a little more power and flexibility. Features that may have to be excised to hit that class can still be found in a notebook like the Portege R835, which enjoys all the comforts of a full-sized notebook without breaking your back…or the bank. Here’s what our review unit came equipped with:

Just from the dimensions and weight you can tell the R835 isn’t really that much bigger than an ultrabook would be, but Toshiba outfits it with a full voltage Intel Core i5-2450M, a latter day incremental update from the i5-2430M (100MHz higher base and turbo) for Sandy Bridge released early this year. Alternately, the i5-2450M is comparable to the older i5-2520M, but has slightly lower (100MHz) turbo clock speeds. Attached to the i5’s memory controller is 6GB of DDR3-1333; realistically the only difference between our review unit and the base level R835 is the extra 2GB of memory and $50 on the price tag. I wouldn’t expect the boost in memory to impact performance greatly, particularly in our benchmarks, so prospective shoppers can probably steer clear and save some money buying the least expensive model.

What should attract some attention is the relic sitting in the 2.5″ drive bay. We get a lot of higher end systems in for review, and with the push for ultrabooks we’ve gotten so used to seeing SSDs in notebooks that it’s surprising to see a mechanical hard disk in a machine, much less one as slow as the 640GB, 5400RPM drive by Hitachi that occupies the R835. Thankfully it’s user replaceable, but using a slower drive is a shock to the system when you’ve been playing with machines that come equipped with SSDs.

One of the major points where the Portege R835 sets itself apart is the inclusion of an optical drive. While the optical drives in my notebooks very seldom see use, I can recognize enough situations where one can be useful that it’s easy to understand why someone might be willing to sacrifice a little bit of extra carrying weight just to get that perk included.

Everything else is pretty much par for the course, although it’s nice to see a 66Wh battery standard in the Portege R835 instead of a smaller capacity one. This is usually one of the first places major vendors shave costs for consumer notebooks, and while 66Wh isn’t mind-blowing, it’s healthy enough to keep the R835 on its legs for a while. Other than the lack of an SSD and a stock voltage CPU (not that that’s a bad thing), the only area where the Portege fails to achieve ultrabook status is in thickness: it’s about 0.2″ too thick at the back.

Source:http://www.anandtech.com/show/5717/toshiba-portege-r835-less-ultra-more-notebook

AVADirect Now Offers GTX 675M In Clevo P270WM Gaming Notebook

March 30th, 2012

Today AVADirect, a leading custom computer manufacturer, announced that they are now selling the new Nvidia GTX 675M graphics processing unit. The GTX 675M is based off of the previous 580M graphics processing unit that Nvidia integrated in mobile platforms in the past year. They produced ground-breaking performance benchmarks, and reached a whole new level of capabilities that were not tapped by the graphics community, until now. The GTX 675M promises to breach the mobile performance barrier and leave less to be desired.

NVIDIA 3D vision has always been featured in select models. Now, the P270WM notebook offered by AVADirect will have full support allowing enthusiasts to become fully immersed in the experience. NVIDIA 3DTV Play makes connecting an HDMI cable to the P270WM more simple than ever. Allowing AVADirect’s customers to display 3D content on supported HDTVs to include Blu-Ray playback, 3D photos, and favorite game titles! Nvidia Verde support, being excitingly new, will maximize the full power capability of the P270WM creating continuous performance and optimizations for various tasks. One of the most unique features involves the Hardware Video Editing Acceleration, which combines high-definition video decode acceleration and post-processing to create stutter-free video with immense picture clarity, accurate color, and exact image scaling for real-time mastering of various projects. More importantly, NVIDIA Optimus is supported, to assist with conserving battery life, and supports the new PCI-Express 3.0 interface to deliver ground-breaking performance in a mobile platform, being the P270WM Gaming Notebook.

Coupled with support for the NVIDIA GTX 675M, the Clevo P270WM will have the ability to house four hard disks for a total of 4TB of mobile storage. This support will increasingly grow as hard disk manufacturers seek to increase the capacity of their notebook hard disks, thus assisting AVADirect with providing an even more unique, and truly custom product; available for enthusiasts and professional to take full advantage of. The P270WM has native support for three hard disks total, but upgrading to four will force removal of the optical drive bay.

Source:http://www.tweaktown.com/pressrelease/6965/avadirect_now_offers_gtx_675m_in_clevo_p270wm_gaming_notebook/index.html

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