Articles about Notebook
Notebook sales to surge, says notebook seller
Global notebook sales may be in the crapper, but according to the chairman of the company manufacturing notebooks for Acer, Dell, Toshiba, HP, and others, the bluebird of sales-revenue happiness will sing again in the second half of this year.
On Thursday, Compal Electronics chairman Ray Chen told an investors conference that …
Son of Stan made president of Acer's cloud and notebook biz
Stan Shih, the man who founded Acer and returned late last year to stem the losses and rebuild the organisation has elevated his eldest son to overlord of slabs and cloudy wares.
A company spokesman confirmed that as part of a wider management re-shuffle, Maverick Shih (for it is he) is now president of the Build Your Own Cloud …
Global notebook sales tank in recent months
Global notebook shipments took it on the chin in the third quarter of this year, with Acer, Asustek, and Toshiba seeing sales plunge by 15 to 25 per cent when compared to the previous quarter.
One notebook vendor, however, bucked the trend, with sales of its notebooks climbing nearly 30 per cent during the same period. Care to …
Seagate takes 7.2k notebook drives out back - and shoots them
A momentous moment: Seagate will end production of its Momentus 7,200rpm 2.5in disk-only drives.
The storage giant will stop making the gear by the end of this year to focus on drives mixed with flash memory, although it will continue to pump out 5,400rpm disks for cheap laptops.
“We are going stop building our notebook 7, …
Notebook makers turn to Android in face of Windows woes
Dissatisfied with sales of Windows 8 notebook and tablets, major PC vendors have reportedly joined Intel in a new push to launch convertible fondleslabs based on Google's Android OS.
So sayeth the supply-chain sleuths at Taiwanese tech news site DigiTimes, which cites anonymous sources inside the notebook vendors.
Chinese …
Asus NV550JV 15.6in full HD notebook - the one we didn't have to send back
When Asus sent the N550 to Vulture Central, I sent it back: the wrong model had been dispatched. Having seen so many tiresome comments following El Reg laptop reviews along the lines of “when I saw it was only 1366 x 768 I stopped reading”, I wasn’t going to proceed with this spec - and with more than these moans as …
Asus VivoBook S200 11.6in touchscreen notebook review
A few months ago I tried a preview of Windows 8 on my 11.6in HP Pavilion and frankly it made about as much sense as a vegetarian bacon sandwich. Why? Because, without a touch screen the Windows 8 Metro Modern UI lacks a crucial ingredient. Armed with only a keyboard and mouse, facing a wall of tiles just gets in the way.
Asus …
Dell intros '14in screen, 13in body' notebook
Dell took the wraps of its compact, "14in display in a 13in body" Inspiron 14z notebook at the IFA consumer electronics show in September, but now it has formally launched the XPS 14z, a skinnier version.
Dell XPS 14z 14in notebook
Specs for the 23mm-thick, 2kg Dell XPS 14z are what you'd expect: second-gen Intel Core i5 and …
Samsung Ativ Book 9 Lite: 13.3-inch slimline notebook with a secret
It seems an odd paradox that the more a company tries to hide something, the more publicity it attracts. Apple certainly uses this notion to good effect, knowing that it can't keep those secrets indefinitely, but also knowing that when it eventually lifts its kimono, what's new in the garden customarily causes a commotion among …
Notebook makers hit hard in pre-Ivy Bridge lull
Taiwanese ODMs which produce notebooks for some of the world’s biggest brands including Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo are set to see shipments fall by up to 20 per cent in April as the transition to Intel’s much anticipated Ivy Bridge platform takes hold.
The new chips are set to land later in the month, but large scale shipments of …
HP readies AMD, Intel sub-notebook
HP has updated its 11.6in notebook-not-netbook machine, the dm1.
The new version is specced with a choice of new AMD E-series dual-core 'Zacate' CPUs with on-board GPUs - and discrete Radeon HD graphics chips - or Intel 'Sandy Bridge' second-gen Core i processors, also with on-chip graphics but no discrete GPU too.
HP dm1 11. …
Asus N56VM 15.6in notebook review
A good journalist always tries to avoid clichés, but sometimes when I’m writing laptop reviews I do find myself reaching for a few stock phrases, such as: the speakers are crap. Imagine my relief, then, to discover that the speakers on the Asus N56VM don't fall into the crap category, but are actually rather good, no doubt …
NASA halts 'naut flogging Apollo 13 notebook
NASA has sparred with one of its most famous astronauts over the sale of a checklist of life-saving calculations.
Jim Lovell, commander of the Apollo 13 mission, led the ruptured space vessel to a safe return landing on Earth in 1970 - but now the 83-year-old has right royally angered his old bosses by auctioning off the …
Lenovo ups in-house notebook production
It could be sweaty palm time for Taiwan’s ODMs after reports emerged that Lenovo is set to step up in-house production of its notebooks and PCs.
The Chinese hardware giant is planning new production lines in Japan and Brazil as well as at its LCFC joint venture with Compal Electronics in northern China, Digitimes reported. …
Dell Inspiron 17R SE 17in Ivy Bridge notebook review
I’m currently mourning the demise of the 18-inch Dell XPS that I’ve been using as a TV/DVD player in my bedroom for the last five years. Hardly anyone seems to make 18-inch laptops anymore, but Dell has come up with a good alternative in the form of the new Inspiron 17R SE (Special Edition).
Dell Inspiron 17R 17in Core i7 …
Samsung Series 3 NP300E5A 15in notebook
Samsung’s NP300E5A-A01DX is the Core i3 model in its Series 3 family of notebooks and is priced accordingly, at around £400. Unashamedly aimed at the cost conscious end of market it has plenty of company including Acer’s Aspire 5749 that Reg Hardware reviewed late last year.
Samsung Series 3 NP300E5A 15in notebook Samsung …
Notebook makers cautious about Ultrabooks
Notebook makers are playing it cautious with Ultrabooks, it seems, limiting shipments to 50,000 or less as the gauge demand through the remainder of 2011.
So say manufacturer moles cited by DigiTimes. Their caution is explained by their experience with past Intel notebook initiatives, most notably for so-called "CULV" - Consumer …
Samsung goes super slim with Notebook 9 series
Samsung released a super-slim notebook today in a bid to compete with Apple's MacBook Air. The company also said it will increase laptop sales by 80 per cent in 2011.
The 13.3in Notebook 9 Series is 16mm thick and weighs 1.3kg. It runs on a Core i5 processor and comes with a seven-hour battery life.
Samsung says it will cost ₩2 …
Intel's Centrino notebook platform is 10 years old
Ten years ago, Intel decided notebook computers needed a boost. The technology wasn’t new, but while a fair few mobile workers had portable computers, and some even had modem cards or were using Bluetooth-connected phones to reach the internet, laptops weren’t seen as a truly mobile networkable device.
And so the chip maker …
Notebook price war slams Dell's revenues, slashes profits
A price war at the low-end of the notebook PC market where Dell has chosen not to participate plus a slump in PC sales where it is fighting to win buyers is wreaking havoc on Dell's financials.
In the company's third quarter of fiscal 2013 ended on November 2, consumer mobile PC revenues were down a staggering 30 per cent. The …
Acer TravelMate Timeline X TM8481T 14in Core i5 notebook
As the name might suggest, Acer’s TravelMate family of notebooks are aimed at the mobile users, with an eye on business bods after something a little more stylish than the standard issue grey slab. A new addition to the range is the Timeline X TM8481T with just a couple of variants at present.
Acer TravelMate Timeline X TM8481T …
Dell Latitude E6220 12.5in Core i7 notebook
Dell's Latitude E6220 is a typical workhorse, designed to be solid, dependable and ever so slightly boring. However, Dell is aiming this compact model more at small businesses rather than large organisations. And the increasing numbers of people who, like myself, are self-employed. A touch of style and being just 1in thin and …
HP Chromebook 11 quietly slips back on Google Play shelves... but where's the FIRE?
HP and Google have returned their long-absent Chromebook 11 to the Play Store. The £229 cloud-centric notebook is in stock and ready to be “dispatched from warehouse in 1 - 2 business days”, the site says.
HP Chromebook 11 is back
HP launched the Chromebook 11 back in October 2013, in particular pitching the laptop’s ability …
HP Pavilion dv6 15.6in quad-core notebook
CES 2012 Week
Choosing an HP notebook isn’t an easy task, not because they are hard to find - far from it - it’s just the bewildering choice of notebooks you can find in a range. Take the recently refreshed Pavilion dv6-6b series, for example. There are currently a staggering 16 different options in this family alone.
HP …
Acer to deliver ARM notebook within nine days
Acer needs to hurry. Apparently, it's going to launch the first ever notebook based on an Nvidia Tegra 2 chip this month, and there only nine more days to go.
The - we suppose we have to say "smartbook", the moniker once given to ARM-based netbooks but sadly much out of favour in these tablet-centric times - will run Android 3.2 …
Fujitsu launches lappie for oldies
Fujitsu has taken a plunge into the grey market by launching a notebook designed specifically for the over 60s.
The aptly named “Grannote” is aimed at “active, mature adults” and will debut in Japan on February 13.
The Lifebook AH90/P lappie has been fitted with some extra features to make it easier for old folks to use. …
Dell XPS 14z 14in Core i5 notebook
Don’t worry, the XPS 14z may be one of Dell’s new "thin and powerful" range, but it doesn’t fit into the superslim Ultrabook category so there’s absolutely no need whatsoever for a gratuitous comparison with Apple's MacBook Air.
Dell XPS 14z 14in notebook
It’s certainly a more stylish affair than the businesslike hardware I’m …
Samsung Series 7 Chonos 15.6in Core i7 notebook
Surely someone is having a laugh. Having read nothing but five-star reviews of this luxury notebook on other sources, I find myself surprised to be staring at a four-star product on my desk. Four stars is pretty good, you know, but that’s one less than five.
Samsung Series 7 Chonos Intel Core i7 notebook All in good time: …
Apple patents touch-sensitive controls for MacBook
Apple has filed for a patent on a system which places the controls for a notebook computer within the outer bezel of the screen.
Patent number 8,654,524, published Tuesday, describes a set of systems in which sensors are placed in both the casing and outer screen bezel (the black box around the outside of the display) allowing …
Samsung RV720 17in Core i3 notebook
Desktop replacement laptops are a genre of portable computer apparently intent on chuntering on forever without ever truly succeeding or dying. By nature, they tend not to be petite, and Samsung's RV720 is no exception.
Samsung RV720 17in Core i3 notebook Desktop replacement on the cheap: Samsung's RV720
Weighing around 2.7kg …
Eurocom Panther 2.0 Core i7, SLI notebook
While currently every notebook manufacturer seems to offering the thinnest, lightest and easiest to carry around notebook ever, in a bizarre way, it’s quite refreshing to find a company wandering off message and offering notebooks at the other end of the scale. Enter Eurocom’s Panther 2.0, the heaviest, most amazingly specified …
Drawers full of different chargers? The IEC has a one-plug-to-rule-them-all
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) says it has come up with a universal laptop charger plug and socket.
The standards body said that its proposed design would ensure compatibility between DC-powered notebooks by establishing a common interface – and limit waste by cutting down on the need to bundle new chargers …
WD embiggens Scorpio Black notebook drive
Western Digital has increased its fast notebook drive's capacity by half to reach 750GB, the same as Seagate's fast notebook drive.
WD's Scorpio Black 2.5-inch drive spins at 7,200rpm and has a 16MB cache and 3Gbit/s SATA interface. It is now also an Advanced Format Drive. Seagate's equivalent Momentus 7200 had its 750 gig …
Thought the toilet camera was weird? Try actual thumb flash drives from tech's supershow
CES wouldn’t be CES without thumbdrive nonsense and it doesn’t disappoint this year, with one device modelled after a rocking toy and another whose USB stick has no cap for you to lose.
LaCie Culbuto LaCie Culbuto
The flash drive fussiness from French company LaCie comes in the form of Culbuto, named after a traditional …
Sony shows MacBook Air-like Vaio notebook
Sony's announcement that it is bringing a pair of Android 3.0 tablets to market this autumn was accompanied - quietly, on the side - by a sneak peek at how it envisages its next slimline notebooks and netbooks will look.
The Japanese giant didn't say much about the machines' specs - it did nothing, in fact, beyond flash pictures …
Acer intros skinny 15in notebook
CES 2012 Week
We can't call Acer's newly announced slimline 14in and 15in Aspire Timeline Ultra laptops 'Ultrabooks' - that's an Intel trademark for a well-defined class of machine.
So how about 'skinnybook'?
Acer didn't specify the either Timeline Ultra's thickness, but they'll be impressively slim if the pics are anything …
Android, Chromebooks storm channel as Windows PC sales go flat
Despite all the carping about the slumping PC market, it really wasn't such a bad year for channel computing sales, with devices based on Google technologies pulling ahead as the clear winners.
According to the latest numbers from market analysis firm NPD, overall sales of desktops, notebooks, and tablets through the channel in …
LenovOUCH! Thinkpad's overheating batteries spark recall alert
Lenovo has recalled a slew of ThinkPad batteries after two customers reported overheating problems.
"On March 27, 2014, Lenovo voluntarily recalled certain lithium-ion batteries. These batteries were manufactured for use with ThinkPad notebook computers that shipped worldwide between October 2010 and April 2011," the company …
LG, Sanyo, fined for price-fixing laptop batteries
The USA's Department of Justice (DoJ) has slapped Sanyo (a subsidiary of Panasonic), and LG Chem (part of the sprawling LG Chaebol, with fines for conspiring to fix prices for cylindrical lithium ion battery cells used in notebook computers.
The DoJ announced the fines last week, and said that between April 2007 and September …
Consumers shove EMEA PC market down giant hole of DOOM
Businesses that flushed calendar year-end budgets came to the aid of the PC market in late 2013 – but not in the sort of numbers that could have rescued the sector from its consumer-induced coma.
According to the bean counters at IDC, 26.7 million traditional portables and desktop were sold into EMEA channels during Q4, some 6.4 …
Lenovo sub-notebook outed
Lenovo describes its IdeaPad U series as "head turning". More cruel pundits than us might add "stomach" to that, if leaked shots of the upcoming IdeaPad U260 are anything to go by.
Lenovo IdeaPad U260
With your choice of colours set to orange or brown, and a design that manages to match a convex rear to a concave front, some …
Asus to make grab for Toshiba's notebook biz?
Asus may seek to acquire Toshiba’s notebook business in order to become the world’s third-largest laptop manufacturer, the Taiwanese firm has said.
Outspoken company chief Johnny Shih said Toshiba’s notebook business has been identified as one of Asus’ possible targets, according to a report by Chinese-language website …
Toshiba Qosmio X770 17.3in 3D gaming notebook
When Toshiba UK announced the launch of the Qosmio X770 3D – a new gaming laptop with stereoscopic 3D graphics and a 17.3in HD screen, I immediately thought: could this be an Alienware killer? Toshiba has been said to lag behind other manufacturers when it comes to high-end gaming laptops, but after spending time with the X770 I …
Returning a laptop to PC World ruined this bloke's credit score. Today the Supreme Court ended his 15-year nightmare
A dad whose credit rating was "annihilated" over a laptop he bought in 1998 has today won an epic legal fight to clear his name.
Richard Durkin's 15-year nightmare began when he walked into a PC World store in Aberdeen, Scotland, to buy a £1,449 notebook.
He specifically asked for a computer with a modem. A sales assistant …
Review: Samsung Series 9 super slim notebook
Samsung has taken an expensive legal hit from Apple over copying design elements in the iPhone. Yet with the Series 9, Samsung has created something a bit special. The entire Ultrabook concept took its inspiration from the Apple MacBook Air, of course. But Samsung's Series 9 has developed a confident design language of its own …
Intel Labs 'geeks' flash Edison kit to El Reg: We do it for the BIRDS
Intel’s recent Edison launch was much more than a tilt at the burgeoning wearables space – Chipzilla has been working on designs for everything from a smart birdfeeder to a paper notebook on which the user can compose emails, according to a chief boffin.
Dr Randolph Wang is chief scientist at Intel Labs China, where he had up to …
Toshiba notebook drive spins level with Samsung
Toshiba has caught up with Samsung and launched its own 640GB notebook drive spinning at 7,200rpm.
Samsung announced its SpinPoint MP4 in April. General notebook SATA drives spin at 5,400rpm, whereas the MP4 rotates at 7,200rpm, delivering faster disk I/O for high-end notebooks and gaming applications. It used the 3Gbit/s SATA …
Apple stalls iWatch, 12.9-inch iPad from Quanta rumored for mid-2014
Apple has reportedly chosen its manufacturing partner for a 12.9-inch "MaxiPad" that's scheduled for mass production in the second half of next year, and is presiding over a bidding war to determine which companies will get the lion's share of producing Cupertino's long-rumored iWatch.
So say the rumormongers at DigiTimes, the …
PC sales shrank less than expected during back-to-school 2013
Want a shock? Sales of desktop and notebook PCs during the all-important back-to-school period were actually better than expected, according to the latest figures from research firm the NPD Group.
That doesn't mean the PC market has suddenly leapt off its sickbed and started tap dancing, mind you. The numbers are still shrinking …
Toshiba unwraps 'first' 3D BD notebook
If you want a laptop capable of playing 3D Blu-ray Discs, Toshiba has the notebook for you.
Launched this morning in the Land of the Rising Sun, the Dynabook TX/98MBL actually goes on sale at the end of July - time enough for one or more of Toshiba's rivals to sneak in a machine of their own.
The TX/98MBL is coming to the UK as …
