Tag: Notebooks
Windows 8 For ARM Devices Won’t Be Sold Separately
Yesterday the Building Windows 8 blog posted a lengthy update about Windows On ARM (WOA), the version of the operating system for ARM-chip based devices. Microsoft is working with major ARM chip makers like Nvidia and Texas Instruments to design PCs for WOA, but I suspect that the majority of the devices consumers see will [...]
AMD’s Next Generation Chips Aim For Thin Laptops, Low Prices, And Good Performance
AMD’s roadmap for 2012 and 2013 reveals more details of the chip maker’s plans for competing in the ultra mobile space. The upcoming APU line — advanced processing units that combine a CPU and powerful graphics in one chip — will emphasize low-voltage and increased cores. In practical terms this means that manufacturers will be [...]
Kinect For Windows Starts Shipping Today, SDK Ready For Download
At CES Microsoft head Steve Ballmer announced that the company would release a version of the popular Kinect sensor for Windows machines. Just as promised the units . Currently it costs $249 but an educator version with a $100 discount will apparently come out later. What can you do with a Kinect for Windows? Not [...]
Acer: Netbook And Ultrabook Will Merge
Remember when I said that netbooks are still relevant? Apparently Acer thinks so, too. Sort of. After a ceremony celebrating the Lunar New Year chairman JT Wang talked strategy for the new year and said they would compete not on price, but on user experience. The notebook maker rose to the upper echelon in global [...]
Lenovo IdeaPad U400 Review
Lenovo’s U Series IdeaPads are all about the blend of style and substance. We’re fans of the ultraportables and ultrabooks in the line and were eager to see how the mainstream U400 stacked up. On first glance you might mistake this IdeaPad for a MacBook Pro thanks to the all-metal body, minimalist design, and skimpy [...]
Switchable Graphics Coming To Ultrabooks Soon?
One of the drawbacks of the ultrabook category is the lack of robust power under the hood. Since these notebooks are meant to be super slim they feature ultra low voltage processors to keep them from getting too hot. That also results in lower performance than non-ULV chips. Intel’s ULV chips have come a long [...]
If Embedded Webcams Are Good Enough, Why Do We Need 1080p Video Chat?
Logitech released their Q03 2012 financial results [PDF] earlier this week and the news was mixed, at best. A section that caught my eye dealt with the company’s webcam business. Sales are down here by 25% and embedded webcams are to blame. Almost every laptop and all-in-one comes with a webcam above the display. Though [...]
How To Turn Off Or Change Troublesome Keys In Windows
Do you often find yourself accidentally hitting the wrong keys on your laptop because of poor design or just messy typing? I know your pain. Some keys just get in the way. The solution to this problem is simple: re-map troublesome keys so they act like different ones or turn them off all together. You [...]
School Districts in 41 States Using Google’s Chromebooks in the Classroom
Google’s Chromebooks may not have been a hit with the tech reviewers who dismissed the very idea of laptops that only work completely when connected to the Internet. That didn’t stop the notebooks from becoming a favorite for certain consumers. And they’re fun on a Virgin America flight (when the in-flight Wi-Fi works). Another area [...]
Dear Lenovo: Please Stop Making Terrible Keyboard Choices
I think we can all agree that a laptop’s keyboard is one of the most important aspects of the computer. It’s the primary input method, the part of the notebook you touch the most, and its quality and comfort affect your experience more than almost anything else. So why is it that there are still [...]
