Asustek’s latest 15.4-inch entertainment notebook – the ASUS M50 with the Intel’s “Penryn” 45nm processor and NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS video card – is now available in the United States.
The M50 is offered as the Asus M50Sv-B1 model, featuring the Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 CPU at 2.1GHz and a HD DVD optical drive, and the M50Sv-A1 with the T9300 at 2.5GHz and a DVD burner. The both laptops come with the GeForce 9500M GS 512MB dedicated video card, which manages 15.4″ 1440-by-900 displays. There are also Dolby Home Theatre technology, Altec Lansing stereo speakers, 3GB of RAM, and a 250GB hard drive in the both models.
Asustek’s press release says the M50 notebook will be also available with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD3650 1GB graphics (M50Sa) and HD3470 with 256MB of video memory (M50Sr). According to the earlier report, some models will include up to one terabyte of hard drive space, provided by two Travelstar 5K500 500GB HDDs. In addition, the M50 will feature a Blu-ray optical drive and a built-in optional analog/digital TV tuner.
The ASUS M50Sv-B1 and M50Sv-A1 sport an integrated 802.11 a/g/n wireless module and a Bluetooth receiver. The M50 systems include Gigabit Ethernet and 56k modem connections, a built-in 1.3-megapixel camera, HDMI and VGA outputs, an eSATA/USB combo port, three standard USB ports, an 8-in-1 media card reader, Firewire port, and an infrared port for remote controller. There is no word on ExpressCard and PC Card slots in the specifications sheet.
Regarding security, the M50 provides a fingerprint reader, accompanied by the Trusted Platform Module.
Your 64GB SSD getting you down? Right, you should be so lucky. Regardless, Toshiba just updated their 12.1-inch Dynabook SS RX1 in Japan with a new 128GB SSD option. Build RX1/TAE bundles 128GB of solid state disk with internal, KDDI EV-DO data module, 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo U7600 processor, 2GB of memory, Intel 945GMS Express graphics, a 1,280 x 800 pixel panel resolution, and choice of 6.2 hour or 12.5 hour batteries. How much? Try something like ¥400,000 or more than $4,000 when it pops for Japanese retail next month.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/17/toshibas-dynabook-ss-rx1-worlds-first-laptop-with-128gb-ssd/
Intel is going to launch the world’s first quad core processor for laptops - the Core 2 Extreme QX9300 - in the third quarter this year, DigiTimes’ sources at motherboard makers say.
“The Core 2 Extreme QX9300 will be manufactured at 45nm and have a core frequency of 2.53GHz. The CPU will come in a socket P package and support FSB speeds up to 1066MHz. The chip will include 12MB L2 cache and have a maximum TDP of 45W,” DigiTimes writes.
The QX9300 will be priced at $1,038 in thousand-unit tray quantities, according to the sources.
The first quad core notebook CPU is a part of the upcoming Intel “Penryn” lineup, designed for use with the next generation Intel Centrino 2 “Montevina” mobile platform.
Source: http://laptoping.com/intel-core-2-extreme-qx9300.html
Asus Lamborghini VX3
System setup:
12.1″ WXGA 1280X800
Intel Mobile Penryn T9500 2.6GHz 6MB 800MHz FSB
3GB DDR2 667
nVidia GeForce 9300M G 256MB DDR2
Windows Vista Ultimate 32
We already had a hunch that these were just around the bend, but it seems that today’s the day for pre-orders to start. Sony’s SZ7 lineup — which consists of the VGN-SZ780, VGN-SZ740, VGN-SZ680 and VGN-SZ640 — is now up on the firm’s own website, and while the estimated ship dates range from next week to unknown, there’s no feeling like securing your spot in line. Head on down to the read link if you’ve been pinching that holiday bonus ’til these hit the e-streets — just make sure you’ve got $1,429.99, at the very least.
Straight out of Cupertino’s mouth, the MacBook Air is officially shipping. ‘Course, we’d already heard a few reports from early adopters that they had received shipment notifications, but now we can all rest assured they weren’t just dreaming. Brace yourselves, MBA pre-orderers, your wee machine should be on its way soon, but it seems as though folks placing their orders as late as today will still face a “2 to 3 week” lead time.
Today’s news from Dell shouldn’t come as any surprise for notebook gaming enthusiasts. Dell officially announced the availability of dual nVidia GeForce 8800M GTX video cards (2 x 512MB) with nVidia SLI for the XPS M1730 and XPS M1730 World of Warcraft edition notebooks.
Dell claims the XPS M1730 laptop configured with dual GeForce 8800M GTX is capable of producing a 3DMark06 score of up to a 13,500 3DMarks … a 49 percent improvement over dual nVidia Geforce 8700M GT SLI technology.
In short, this latest dual graphics card option delivers stunning performance even for demanding games like Crysis and BioShock.
While this might sound like bitter news for people who already purchased the XPS M1730, Dell has another surprise in store. Dell will offer a “graphics upgrade program” for customers with existing XPS M1730 and XPS M1730 World of Warcraft edition laptops!
New customers can configure the XPS M1730 with dual 512MB GeForce 8800M GTX cards for an additional $700. Details on the upgrade program will be available soon.
Of course, Dell is not the first notebook manufacturer to offer dual 8800M GTX video cards. Sager was first to the market with the release of the NP9262 with dual 8800M GTX cards last year.
Source: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4225
Forget the MacBook Air: those folks seeking the absolute lightest notebooks on the planet know that Windows machines are still the only way to go, and Toshiba has proven that once again with an official 3G upgrade to the already impressive Portege R500. According to Akihabara News (which seems to be a little confused concerning the model number here), two new 12.1-inch, HSDPA-equipped configurations will be available this month: the ultra-lightweight (and ultra-pricey) R500-11J, highlighted by a 64GB SSD drive and impressive 1.72-pound package, and the cheaper, optical drive-packing R500-11I, which features the same 1.20GHz U7600 CPU and 2GB of RAM, but introduces a less appealing 120GB HDD. Pricing should be around €2,500 ($3,658) for the high-end 11J and €2,050 ($3,000 even) for the heavier 11I.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/21/toshiba-adds-3g-to-the-featherweight-portege-r500/
Sources at touch panel and related component makers have revealed that companies are currently having their products undergo sampling with Asustek Computer in bids to win orders for next-generation Asus Eee PC laptops and touch-screen notebooks, which are set to launch later this year, DigiTimes reports.
The second-generation of Eee PCs will support panel sizes of 8-, 9- and 10-inch. The 9-inch versions will feature a touch-panel. The touch-screen display is expected to add only under $15 to the manufacturing cost of the Eee PC reportedly.
The 9-inch touch panel-equipped Eee PCs will adopt four-wire resistive touch screen technology, according to DigiTimes’ sources.
