posts on CNET - Page 11

Lenovo twists a tablet and laptop into the IdeaPad Yoga

Despite its reputation as a maker of buttoned-down business laptops, Lenovo can always be counted on to produce a couple of intriguing concept pieces at CES every year, such as the IdeaPad Yoga.

This Windows 8 prototype laptop is described as "the industry's first multimode notebook with a 360-degree flip-and-fold design." A 13.3-inch touch-screen laptop, the Yoga is a thin, light laptop, but perhaps not quite an ultrabook. It's 16.9mm thick and weighs 3.1 pounds.

The name Yoga in part gives away the system's big selling point, that the display flips fully over to become a tablet. In fact, it has four usable positions, which Lenovo calls notebook, tablet, stand, and tent.

Lenovo says the combination of a traditional laptop design and a tablet makes the Yoga ideal for both content creation and consumption. The 13-inch display has a 1,600x900-pixel native resolution, and 10-point capacitive touch.

We've seen similar ideas for years in what are called convertible laptops, which have a rotating center hinge to swivel into both laptop and tablet forms. The problem with those, traditionally, has been that the single center rotating hinge was a potential weak point in the design. Lenovo says the Yoga's full-length hinge has been rigorously tested and is stronger than the older rotating convertible design. … Read more

Samsung raises design bar with Series 9 laptop (just don't call it an 'ultrabook')

One of last year's most head-turning laptops, the Samsung Series 9, is back, with an even slimmer, sleeker look.

Just one year ago, at CES 2011, the term "ultrabook" was never uttered. Instead, we saw a handful of very thin Windows laptops looking to duplicate the aesthetic and commercial appeal of Apple's MacBook Air, but without the help of a new category name (or R&D fund) from Intel. Of those, the most eye-catching was the Samsung Series 9, a 13-inch thin laptop that had a lightweight duralumin case. At the time, we said it … Read more

Why you won't want to buy the laptops of CES 2012

LAS VEGAS--The message of CES 2012 for laptops thus far: wait.

I'd love to tell you that one of the laptops of this year's Consumer Electronics Show is absolutely wonderful, a must-buy. However, I can't. I have a strong feeling that whatever we see at this show is only a half-step forward. Worse, there's a very good chance that it'll all be out of date by midyear.

The reasons are utterly simple, and made even clearer by this morning's Intel keynote presentation.… Read more

Asus revives the Netbook at CES 2012 with the Eee PC Flare

LAS VEGAS--As popular as ultrabook laptops currently are, the same could have been said of the Netbook a couple of years ago.

But over the past 24 months, with inexpensive 11- and 12-inch ultraportable systems and now 13-inch ultrabooks, the basic 10-inch Intel Atom Netbook has fallen on hard times. At CES 2012, the only new Netbook we've seen from a major PC maker is the new Asus Eee PC Flare.

This 10.1-inch model, also called the 1025C, uses Intel's 1.6GHz Atom N2600 dual-core CPU, but otherwise has familiar specs: 1GB of RAM and a 320GB … Read more

Thunderbolt storage now gets bus-powered with Elgato

LAS VEGAS--Mobile Mac users now can finally say goodbye to their USB or FireWire portable drives.

Elgato showed off today at CES 2012 the first bus-powered Thunderbolt drive, the Elgato Thunderbolt SSD.

While bus-powered--a feature that allows storage devices to draw power directly from the peripheral port, negating the need for a separate power adapter--has been widely popular with USB portable drives, it has been a challenge for the Thunderbolt connection. The Thunderbolt port is slated to offer up to 10 volts of power, but because parts and pieces of the Thunderbolt interface, such as the cable itself, require energy … Read more

Toshiba teases a 14-inch ultrabook prototype, we go hands-on

LAS VEGAS--While Toshiba usually has a flood of new laptops every year, the company surprised us this CES by highlighting a single model.

Even more unusual, instead of a ready-to-ship product, it is a still-unnamed 14-inch ultrabook prototype. The unit we saw had a Satellite logo on it, rather than the Portege branding we saw in last year's Z835 (a 13-inch ultrabook currently available for a rock-bottom $799).

Otherwise, it looked very similar, with Toshiba's standard business/consumer crossover look of a gray brushed-metal lid, rounded corners, and an inset screen with a too-thick black plastic bezel.

The keyboard was a standard island-style design, with Toshiba's custom row of page navigation keys along the far right side. We haven't had a chance to use it more than briefly, but the large clickpad looked interesting, with small left and right clickzone indicators etched into it. … Read more

Lenovo IdeaPad Z, G, and Y series updates focus on better graphics, not much else

LAS VEGAS--Sometimes you just can't come up with a good angle on how to spin a laptop update.

In the case of the Lenovo IdeaPad Z, G, and Y series updates announced at CES, consider these more of the same, with better graphics.

That's not bad at all, but we expect little updates like these every year: these IdeaPads certainly aren't out to surprise. Because Intel's next-generation Ivy Bridge mobile processors won't be available for laptops right away, these IdeaPad updates are indicative of what we're seeing on laptops that aren't ultrabooks: small tweaks, nothing fancy.… Read more

Don't call it a Netbook! Atom-powered 11-inch Lenovo IdeaPad S200 is 'mini notebook'

LAS VEGAS--The netbook's not quite dead yet. The Lenovo IdeaPad S200 features a next-gen Intel Atom processor, and it should offer a significantly better experience than previous-generation 10-inch Atom netbooks.

The rise of low-cost 11-inch ultraportable laptops began last year with a wave of affordable computers powered by AMD E-350 APUs. The colorful IdeaPad S200 series does include an AMD-powered version (the S206), but it's the Atom version that bears the most interest for us.… Read more

Vizio jumps into the laptop and desktop game

A slate of laptops and desktops from TV-maker Vizio was reportedly expected at CES 2012, and now it looks like that news has dropped a little early.

Update: We've updated the gallery below with new official product shots from Vizio. The company also says the current names of the systems are as follows: 24-inch All-in-One PC, 27-inch All-in-One PC, 14-inch Thin + Light Notebook, 15.6-inch Thin + Light Notebook, 15.6-inch Notebook.

The Verge notes a Financial Times story detailing the basics of this new PC lineup. According to FT.com:

[Vizio] will be showing two Windows 7 all-in-one PCs and three notebooks at CES, notable for sleek, aluminium-styled designs that pay due homage to Apple's MacBook and iMac products.

Few details on the actual systems or specs are available, but the systems are said to be targeting a May 2012 release in North America. The systems mentioned include 24-inch and 27-inch all-in-one PCs, each with a subwoofer in its audio system, a media remote, and a matching wireless keyboard and mouse.

Three laptops are planned. Two are ultrabook-style thin systems, with 14- and 15.6-inch screens. The third is a 15.6-inch performance system. … Read more

Lenovo kicks off the CES 2012 laptop wars with several early debuts

Lenovo is starting the flood of CES news a bit early with several new laptop announcements.

While CES 2012 doesn't start until next week, as of today, you can start putting the new ThinkPad T430u ultrabook, and dual-OS ThinkPad X1 Hybrid, on your shopping list, as well as a few new ThinkPad Edge models and even a couple of budget-priced systems from Lenovo's B series. Check out photos and details for each below.

ThinkPad T430u ultrabook hits pre-CES 2012 The look and feel keeps to ThinkPad tradition, with a matte-black finish and an island-style keyboard similar to what … Read more