AMD has a three-pronged assault going out today: at the bottom (in terms of performance) is their 2013 AMD Elite Mobility Platform, formerly codenamed Temash. Next up is the newly christened 2013 AMD Mainstream APU Platform, aka Kabini. And at the higher end of the spectrum we’re also getting the Richland update to Trinity, which AMD is calling their 2013 Elite Performance APU Platform. We’ll cover all of these with individual Pipeline pieces, starting with Kabini. Here’s the overview of the Kabini parts: In total there are five new Kabini APUs launching: one 25W part, three 15W parts, and one 9W offering. The hardware is the same from the architectural side of things, with the A-Series parts coming with four Jaguar CPU cores and supporting...
Synaptics ForcePad: A Thinner, Pressure Sensitive Trackpad for Notebooks
Late last week I talked a bit about Synaptics’ smartphone touch technology, but today’s announcements apply to their role in the notebook space. Today Synaptics is announcing two new...
5 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 8/20/2012
Synaptics ThinTouch: Bringing the Capacitive Touch Revolution to Mechanical Keyboards
Earlier this month Synaptics announced the acquisition of Pacinian, a company that focused on physical keyboards that used capacitive touch. To expand, Synaptics has to look beyond clickpad and...
15 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 8/20/2012.jpg)
Samsung Series 7 NP700Z7C Review
We recently posted our first look at Dell’s new XPS 15, a Windows-focused laptop that took more than a few design elements of the standard MacBook Pro 15. While...
49 by Jarred Walton on 8/16/2012
Dell XPS 15 L521X: A Detailed First Look
Last week Dell’s new XPS 15 L512x landed on our doorstep, and we’ve been hammering on it ever since. Combining many of the best elements of the previous generation...
109 by Jarred Walton on 7/25/2012
The 2012 MacBook Pro Review
With most of the attention from Apple's hardware refresh event centered around iOS 6 and the new Retina MacBook Pro, the updated 2012 edition of the regular MacBook Pro...
132 by Vivek Gowri on 7/18/2012
The 2012 MacBook Air (11 & 13-inch) Review
Things are getting very blurry. The MacBook Pro once stood for tons of power plus upgradability. Add a Retina Display and now it's just tons of power. It's a thicker...
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Acer Aspire S5 Ultrabook Review: The Steady March of Progress
First generation technology is seldom perfect, and the fruit of Intel's ultrabook initiative was no exception. While vendors came out in force with some fairly impressive pieces of hardware...
82 by Dustin Sklavos on 7/9/2012
Acer Aspire V3-571G-9435: The Value Proposition
We’ve had plenty of Acer laptops come in for review over the years (along with visits from their close relatives, Gateway). Rarely do we find such laptops reaching for...
87 by Jarred Walton on 7/4/2012
The next-gen MacBook Pro with Retina Display Review
Apple makes the bulk of its revenue from devices that don’t look like traditional personal computers. For the past couple of years I’ve been worried that it would wake...
470 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/23/2012
MacBook Pro Retina Display Analysis
I'm in San Francisco until tomorrow morning, but aside from dinner I've been spending as much time with the next-gen MacBook Pro as possible. Apple, as always, has done...
188 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/12/2012
SSD and USB 3.0 Performance of the Retina Display MacBook Pro
Two major upgrades offered to all of Apple's new MacBook lineup are updated SSDs and native USB 3.0 support. The same updated SSD is present across all of Apple's...
33 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/11/2012
How the Retina Display MacBook Pro Handles Scaling
Earlier this morning Apple introduced its next-generation MacBook Pro equipped with a Retina Display. The 15.4-inch panel features a native resolution of 2880 x 1800, or exactly four times...
74 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/11/2012
ASUS Zenbook Prime (UX21A) Teardown
ASUS' Zenbook Prime is due for its official launch later this month. As we found in our early review of the UX21A, ASUS addressed nearly every problem we had...
15 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/3/2012
ASUS Zenbook Prime (UX21A) Review: The First of the 2nd Gen Ultrabooks
The first round of Ultrabooks were mostly underwhelming. It shouldn't be a surprise, but many of the efforts were just half hearted at best. Of the companies who shipped...
192 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/22/2012
The AMD Trinity Review (A10-4600M): A New Hope
AMD’s microprocessor history goes way back, predating even the now venerable x86 architecture. Their first foray into x86 territory came as a subcontractor to Intel, and from there AMD...
272 by Jarred Walton on 5/15/2012
Dell Reveals Ivy Bridge for XPS and Vostro Desktops, Inspiron Laptops
In the continuing deluge of Intel 3rd Generation Core i-Series product announcements, Dell has released details on their XPS and Vostro desktops, along with their Inspiron laptops. For now...
17 by Jarred Walton on 5/2/2012
Mobile Ivy Bridge and ASUS N56VM Preview
Intel is firing a massive artillery barrage at its competition today with the release of desktop and mobile Ivy Bridge processors. Last year’s Sandy Bridge gave Intel a huge...
49 by Jarred Walton on 4/23/2012
HP Folio 13 Review: Deviating From the Norm
The initial bum rush of ultrabooks resulted in, with limited exception, a lot of designs that took most of their cues from Apple's MacBook Air. Even Dell's XPS 13...
88 by Dustin Sklavos on 4/17/2012
Toshiba Satellite P755D: Nearing the End of the Road for Llano
While the launch of Trinity isn't too far away, it's important to remember there are still plenty of Llano notebooks available today with a lot to offer on their...
34 by Dustin Sklavos on 4/11/2012
Sony VAIO SE: An IPS Laptop for Under a Grand
Yes, folks, we finally managed to get someone to send us a mainstream laptop with an IPS display. Not that there are many choices; besides the Sony SE reviewed...
58 by Jarred Walton on 4/3/2012