MSI have pushed out another mainstream notebook, the Bravo EX628, complete with a 16-inch 1,366 x 768 display, Intel Core 2 Duo processor and discrete ATI Mobility Radeon HD4670 graphics. The company are billing the EX628 as a multimedia maven, with its integrated subwoofer and 16:9 aspect display certainly making for a reasonable performer, plus there’s a 1080p-capable HDMI port and Blu ray drive.
Dell may have canned their Inspiron Mini 12, but they’ve replaced it with a new CULV ultraportable in the shape of the Inspiron 11z. The new notebook has an 11.6-inch display running at 1,366 x 768, paired with Intel’s Celeron 723 1.2GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard-drive. Thanks to stepping up to CULV rather than Intel’s Atom range, the 11z gets past the CPU/storage limitations the chip company insists upon; that should mean buyers get a more capable ultraportable for their money.
There are quite a few companies out there who will sell you a ruggedized laptop, cellphone or digital camera, but they’ll also help themselves to a healthy amount from your wallet in return. The gang at Popular Mechanics decided to see if – with only the sort of typical supplies you could find at Home Depot and Staples – they could make their own versions for a whole lot less money. That, of course, provided the ideal opportunity to give one of Dell’s Inspiron 1545 notebooks a good kicking.
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It looks as though NVIDIA and Apple may have kissed and made up after GPU issues soured their business relationship. According to Digitimes' sources, the Cupertino company will use NVIDIA's upcoming MCP89 and MCP99 chipsets for Intel-based notebooks when they launch in Q1 2010. The MCP89 is known to be the successor to the well-received GeForce 9400M (aka the NVIDIA Ion).
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Lenovo have issued a battery recall for certain ThinkPad models, which may either throw up "irreparable damage" or "battery cannot be charged" error messages, or simply have unusually low capacity. The issue affects models from the company's ThinkPad T60, T61, R60, R61, X60 and X61 ranges, though only specific batteries for those notebooks.
MSI have announced five new notebooks in its C-Series, the 16-inch WXGA CX600, CR600-013 and CR600-017, and the 17.3-inch WXGA++ CX700 and CR700. Each packs a Pentium Dual Core processor – the T4200 2.0GHz, aside from the CR600-017 which gets the slightly faster T4300 2.1GHz – together with 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard-drive.
Dell have announced a new series of 14.1- and 15.6-inch Vostro business notebooks, the 1014, 1015 and 1088. Intended as entry-level machines, they include integrated optical drives, Intel Core 2 Duo processors and EnergyStar 5.0 certification, together with four USB ports, gigabit ethernet and Bluetooth.
Having teased us mercilessly back in July with the banner for their IdeaPad U450p, Lenovo have finally put the 14-inch CULV ultraportable up for sale. Kicking off from $799, the U450p has a choice of Intel 1.3GHz Pentium SU2700 or 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo SU3500 processors and up to 4GB of DDR3 memory.
Sony have admitted that certain models of VAIO notebook may be affected by the notorious NVIDIA “bump” material issue, which can see the GPU overheat and eventually break completely. The nine model types on Sony’s list join the existing roll-call of faulty notebooks, which includes machines from Apple, HP and Dell. In response, Sony are offering free repairs for affected VAIOs, and to extend the standard warranty (on the GPU alone) from the regular 12 months to four years in total.
Apple have delivered on what must be one of the most-requested options for their MacBook Pro range, and made an antiglare display available for the 15-inch model. Priced at $50, the option keeps the 1,440 x 900 resolution and LED backlighting, but does mean you lose the borderless panel.
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