laptop. tablet

Microsoft's official online store has cut prices on a handful of Window 8 devices. These systems, from HP, Toshiba, and others, are all different, but each straddles the line between laptop and tablet and falls into the growing hybrid category; you can see the current discounts on the Microsoft Store site.

With these new discounts (no word on if they are temporary or permanent), our initial reviews of these specific systems deserve a second look, if only because a big knock against each one was the unrealistic asking price.

Are they much better machines at $100 to $250 off, … Read more

I realize "three-deal Tuesday" isn't nearly as alliteratively pleasing as "tablet Tuesday," but when you've got three deals to share, well, alliteration be damned! That's right, I said it. (Good lord, I think I have a problem. I may need Alliteration Anonymous.)

Anyway, let's get down to business...

1. Tablet Tuesday. Today only, and while supplies last, Woot has the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7-inch Android tablet for $169.99, plus $5 for shipping. It's new, not refurbished, and it comes with a bunch of extras.

Specifically, an accessory kit that … Read more

Last summer I asked if it still made sense to buy a desktop PC.

After all, laptops are cheap, portable, and powerful enough for most computing tasks. The folks who need desktops are those diminishing few who play graphics-intensive games and work on photos, videos, CAD stuff, and the like.

In the eight months or so since I posed that question, tablets have taken over the world. Apple unveiled three iPad models in the span of about six months. Amazon and Barnes & Noble introduced bigger and more-powerful Kindles and Nooks. Google gave us the Nexus 10. And Microsoft jumped … Read more

Updated: Lenovo has since told CNET that the Helix will start shipping in early March.

Anyone looking to pick up Lenovo's new Helix convertible laptop-tablet may have to wait another month or two.

Unveiled at CES last month, the ThinkPad Helix was slated to reach consumers late this month. But a post on Lenovo's Facebook page indicates a possible monkey wrench in those plans.

An anxious customer posed the simple question: "It's February. Where is the Helix?" In response, an apparent Lenovo rep with the initials CB broke the news that "unfortunately we received … Read more

Lenovo seems to one of the few PC vendors thriving in a weak market.

For its fiscal second quarter that ended September 30, the Hong Kong-based company scooped up record sales of $8.7 billion, a jump of 11 percent from the prior year's quarter. PC shipments rose 10.3 percent, a healthy gain given that shipments for the overall industry fell more than 8 percent.

Based on data from IDC, Lenovo now holds 15.7 percent of the global PC market, its highest market share ever. It's also hot on the heels of No. 1 Hewlett-Packard, which … Read more

Earlier today I caught a glimpse of the HP tower that's been sitting, untouched, on my spare desk for the better part of a year. And it got me thinking: does it still make sense to buy a desktop?

As recently as three years ago, I'd never have a considered anything else for my primary PC. Real work required real horsepower, and that meant a desktop. Plus, as an avid gamer, I needed a fast processor and the occasional video-card upgrade to feed my habit.

Needless to say, the times, they are a-changing. I don't game much … Read more

For many years, the laptop served as the de facto anchor for techies on the go. Then the tablet came along.

These days, it's possible to use a tablet as the main portable squeeze, since it (usually) delivers incredible battery life and apps that can do just about anything (within reason). In a column today, CNET's Marguerite Reardon addresses the question, "Could I really ditch my laptop for an iPad?" And that got us thinking more about the subject.

Does the ever-increasing functionality of the tablet make you second-guess bringing a laptop along? It did for … Read more

In addition to its new Series 7 laptops, Samsung is showing off a new Windows tablet, called the Series 7 Slate. We got a chance to play around with a demo unit earlier this week, and at a minimum, it at least includes some of the smarter ideas we've seen for Windows tablets (which may be faint praise, as the Win 7 tablet universe is filled with clunkers).

The 11.6-inch system we saw ran an Intel Core i5 CPU, but Samsung says Core i3 and even Pentium versions will be available. That Core i5 CPU is why we … Read more

We've been testing and reviewing Windows tablets for many years, the latest being the new Acer Iconia Tab W500P, but have typically found them lacking--both in comparison with more powerful Windows laptops, and with other tablets, such as Apple's popular iPad.

One Windows tablet that we've been eager to check out after seeing it at CES 2011 is the Asus Eee Slate EP121, a high-end touch-screen tablet with a separate Bluetooth keyboard. Asus is, for the uninitiated, most responsible for the (now faded) popularity of low-cost Netbooks, and the company is now pushing the boundaries of what … Read more