nvidia optimus

Amid a week featuring the debut of a fashionably small laptop, Dell has announced a line of products that move firmly in the opposite direction. The new XPS line of laptops are a high-end-targeted set of media-featured notebooks aimed squarely at the HP Envy and MacBook Pro crowds. The design, from a backlit keyboard to lots of anodized and brushed aluminum, feels like an upscale fusion of the Studio and Adamo lines. They aren't flashy, but they seem quite sleek, and Dell offers its arsenal of Design Studio tweaks for anyone looking to pop these XPS models up a … Read more

Over the last few months, we've seen quite a few Nvidia Optimus laptops. Optimus automatically switches between discrete and integrated graphics, powering the horsepower down when not used in order to save a little battery life. It's a similar idea to what's also included on the spring 2010 15-inch MacBook Pro, except Apple never created any branding for the concept.

And there's the rub: it's basically invisible tech, yet Nvidia has branded the concept for greater visibility. Really it amounts to something we'd obviously prefer to have in any laptop with dedicated graphics. Right … Read more

A year ago, Samsung wasn't much of a player in the laptop space aside from a few Netbooks. This year, however, the equation changed. We've seen Samsung midrange laptops that have offered great value for their components, with designs that seem to be getting progressively better. With the company's newest batch of laptop announcements, that trend seems to be continuing.

The NF and SF series of Netbooks and laptops adopt a similar design, with curved, glossy lines and raised walls around the keyboard deck. The look feels particularly suited to living-room use, as if these laptops were … Read more

Good news for people shopping for a small, powerful gaming laptop: the tiny hybrid Alienware M11x has gotten a whole lot better overnight. New Core i5, i7, and Nvidia Optimus upgrades look like they could bring the M11x closer to par with the more fully fledged Alienware M15x laptop.

When we reviewed the M11x earlier this year, we found its combination of low-voltage Core 2 Duo processor, Netbook-like size, and switchable gaming-ready graphics to be pretty compelling for its price. New Core i5 and i7 processors should only sweeten the deal, providing that the battery life remains good. The addition … Read more

The steady march of rumors about updated MacBook laptops is getting louder, with recent noise about new Intel Core i5 and i7 processors now joined by hints of Nvidia's new Optimus switchable graphics technology. The MacBook Pro line hasn't been updated since June 2009, and could certainly use a refresh to keep up with the latest laptop technology.

Apple Insider claims, "The Mac maker has up and running in its labs several next-generation MacBook Pros that can switch between their integrated and discrete graphics processors automatically." Some current MacBook Pro models allow users to switch from … Read more

Some ideas are so obvious that when announced, one's first reaction is to ask, "Wait, weren't we already doing it that way?" Such is the case with laptops featuring both integrated and discrete graphics processors, and Nvidia's new system for juggling them, called Optimus.

Common sense dictates that laptops with both a discrete GPU and standard integrated graphics should be able to switch between the two at will. After all, why waste battery life powering a GeForce card when you're just surfing the Web or sending an e-mail? Many laptops currently offer this option, commonly called switchable graphics, including select MacBook Pro models and systems from Asus, Sony, and others.

Unfortunately, until now, this required one to manually flip a switch to turn the discrete GPU off or on. Sometimes this was a software switch, sometimes an actual physical switch on the laptop. This kludgey system presents many problems. First, one has to remember to activate the GPU before launching a game or other graphics-intensive task, and then turn it off after (or risk killing your battery). Second, many mainstream users may not even know they have switchable graphics, and will simply leave the GPU permanently off or on, defeating the purpose altogether.

Some laptops label the two modes with unclear names such as "high performance" or "better battery life," which doesn't really spell out exactly what you're doing when you activate the mode. Even worse, some laptops require you to close all your apps and log out to switch modes (we're looking at you, MacBook Pro).

With Nvidia's new Optimus technology, that basic task of turning the discrete GPU on and off when appropriate has been automated. The company describes the process, saying, "Users can now experience the full performance benefits of a discrete GPU with the battery life of an integrated graphics solution. Nvidia Optimus automatically, instantaneously, and seamlessly optimizes the notebook to offer the best performance or best battery life depending on the application." … Read more