notebooks

Sony rolls out post-CES Vaio laptop updates

It's the kind of announcement one expects to hear at CES, not a week or two after. Sony has updated part of its Vaio laptop line with new CPUs and new colors. But don't get too excited, these minor upgrades say nothing about any possible future systems meeting Intel's ultrabook spec, or using the next generation of Core i-series CPUs, expected around midyear.

The high-end Vaio Z (starting at $1,949), is adding a new color, Carbon Silver, to go alongside Carbon Black and Carbon Gold (and Premium Carbon Black, which we believe means "matte"). … Read more

Envy 15 review: HP turns up the volume

With a radical redesign, HP's latest Envy system looks a lot different from previous models, but the most important change is one you might not even notice at first.

The big news in the new Envy 15 is the inclusion of a physical volume-control wheel. Physical volume controls are very rare. Occasionally, you'll get a couple of tiny volume-up and volume-down buttons above the keyboard, and a few years ago capacitive touch strips were popular (but never responsive enough to use). Most of the time, you're stuck fumbling with alternative functions of the Fn keys for volume and muting.… Read more

MIA laptops at CES 2012: Alienware, Vaio, and others have little to show

LAS VEGAS--The biggest surprise of CES 2012 is not what we've seen here at the show, but what we haven't. In a radical departure from previous years, several major laptop makers are missing in action, while others are showing off only a single major new product, if anything.

Instead of hosting its usual giant press conference and hotel suites full of products to demo, Dell instead introduced a single laptop, the XPS 13 ultrabook. If it was going to highlight just one laptop, Dell certainly picked the most relevant one, but last year's CES saw several systems across different categories.

Dell's sister brand, Alienware, had nothing new to show, despite scoring big at past CES events with systems such as the M11X.

HP likewise stuck to a single major new laptop, the Envy 14 Spectre. It's an innovative system with a cool design (and our Best of CES winner in the computers and hardware category), but HP's other new laptops, the revamped Envy 15 and Envy 17, and the Folio 13 ultrabook, had already been released last month.

Toshiba typically has new models spilling from its various Satellite, Qosmio, and Portege laptop lines. But at CES 2012, it only had a single product to show off, an unnamed 14-inch ultrabook prototype. … Read more

PCs take the lead at CES 2012: Laptops, desktops, and hardware

LAS VEGAS--It's a rare CES for which most of the digital ink spilled is about computers and hardware, rather than giant televisions. But 2012 was just such a year, thanks to the never-ending drumbeat of Intel's ultrabook platform.

Yes, ultrabooks again It seems like you couldn't walk more than a hundred steps across the velvety carpet of the CES show floor without running into a giant ULTRABOOK or WINDOWS 8 sign. The first official ultrabook-designated laptops (it's an Intel marketing term) arrived during the 2011 holiday season, but CES 2012 was a coming-out party for a host of new designs from nearly all manufacturers.

The laptops ranged from the diminutive (the Acer Aspire S5) to the large and bold (the HP Envy 14 Spectre), and to the copycat (the MacBook-Air-alike Dell XPS 13). And 14- and 15-inch models, some with optical drives, dedicated graphics, and hybrid solid-state/hard drives, have begun to blur a category only in its nascency, leading us to ask if the category will suffer from unnecessary mission creep.

Will that mean that consumers will have a hard time identifying what an ultrabook is, or even feel the category has become overhyped and overexposed by the end of this year? Ultrabooks may be the industry's next great hope, judging by Intel's ultrabook-obsessed keynote presentation, but that doesn't mean consumers are never going to want anything different.

But not just ultrabooks Only a handful of other, non-ultrabook laptops really stood out.… Read more

The hidden Samsung laptops of CES 2012

LAS VEGAS--No matter how much you prepare for a trade show like CES, what you see on the floor never quite matches what news you get beforehand.

In the case of Samsung, we had a chance to look at the new Samsung Series 9 and Series 5 Ultra ultrabook, but were surprised by quite a few intriguing laptops at Samsung's booth, which we should expect to see later this year.… Read more

Origin stands up for high-end PC gaming at CES 2012, with new Eon 17s and 15s laptops

LAS VEGAS--If there's one category we don't see much of at CES every year, it's high-end gaming PCs.

This year is even sparser, with no new Alienware or Asus high-end gaming rigs on display. Fortunately, boutique builder Origin is on point with new versions of its two gaming laptops, the Eon 17s and 15s.

While we really liked the overclocked Eon 17s laptop we reviewed last year, the look and feel of the hardware left something to be desired. It was built into a generic-looking shell from Clevo (a Taiwanese manufacturer that makes generic laptops other computer … Read more

Targus iNotebook iPad concept embraces pen and paper

LAS VEGAS--It's hard to the kick the notepaper habit. There's something comforting about sloppy handwriting and pens that run dry. Targus is embracing that nostalgia with the iNotebook concept.

The iNotebook is halfway between a light bulb over someone's head and reality. The concept shown during CES is just a sketch of what's to come. The idea is that you will be able to scribble notes on real paper and have it instantly transferred to your iPad.

Check out the photo for a vague idea of where this is heading. Targus promises that it will look … Read more

So, what's an ultrabook, again?

LAS VEGAS--Ask Intel, ask any laptop manufacturer at this year's CES what's going on, and ultrabook is going to come up. It's all anyone can talk about, it seems. Intel's entire 2012 CES press conference was about them. Acer, Samsung, Toshiba, HP, Lenovo--go down the list, and it's what they're showing at the convention.

So, what are ultrabooks, exactly?

That's the kick, and the rub, and the problem I see for ultrabooks at the moment: just when we're beginning to figure them out, the line defining them is completely blurring. How the … Read more

Hey, there you are! Razer Blade gaming laptop re-emerges at CES

LAS VEGAS--Remember CES 2011? We recall it fondly. Glasses-free 3D. Endless tablets. Razer's Switchblade concept gaming laptop.

Well, some things never change, including the fact that we're still waiting to see an actual Razer laptop hit stores. The Razer Blade, an evolution of last year's Switchblade design, was announced at the end of August last year during PAX's gaming convention. Its release was supposed to be imminent, and suddenly, like a celebrity heading into rehab, it disappeared.

The Razer Blade is back again at CES 2012, and according to Razer, it'll be available at the end of the month.… Read more