bridge

Despite all the (virtual) ink we spend on hip 11- and 13-inch laptops, the bulk of laptops sold are still in the midsize category. For most consumers, that means a 15.6-inch display, but we consider any laptop with a 14-, 15-, or 16-inch screen to be part of that midsize category. These are the laptops you're most likely going to find sitting on an office desk, in a den, or in a dorm room. We've even seen our fair share of them wedged into airplane seats and in coffee shops, as awkward as that always looks.

If you're set on a midsize laptop, one piece of advice we've offered for the past couple of years is to consider a 14-inch system rather than a more common 15-inch one. While you're trading away a little bit of screen size (but not any screen resolution), we've consistently found that 14-inch midsize laptops offer better overall industrial design, specifically because the standard laptop keyboard fits much better in a 14-inch chassis than a 15-inch one, leaving much less dead space on either side. And, by shaving off a little size and weight, these 14-inch models are easier to carry around--which is important, as we've seen many commuters struggling under the weight of oversize laptops. … Read more

Hewlett-Packard announced today that customers can return products that use Intel's faulty Sandy Bridge chipset, following a similar announcement yesterday from Dell.

Intel said Monday that it had stopped shipments of the chipset that accompanies its Second-Generation Intel Core ("Sandy Bridge") processor due to a flaw that can affect access to a hard-disk drive, optical drive, or other device that connects to a computer using SATA technology.

Customers can "return their affected product and choose a comparable product or receive a refund," HP said today in a statement. The world's largest PC maker repeated … Read more

The U.S. railroad is about to get a minor makeover.

Axion International has won a $15 million contract to make railroad ties made from recycled plastic, the company announced yesterday.

The railroad ties will specifically be made of Recycled Structural Composite (RSC), the signature recycled plastic composite developed by Axion in conjunction with Rutgers University. RSC is a thermoplastic composite produced from 100 percent recycled consumer plastics (such as milk jugs and laundry detergent bottles) and industrial plastic waste.

Axion's deal to provide replacement railroad ties over the next three years is with an unnamed company purported to … Read more

Hewlett-Packard and Dell as of this afternoon were still advertising laptops with the Sandy Bridge processor--despite the fact that Intel has halted shipment of Sandy Bridge's accompanying chipset due to a flaw.

Intel announced yesterday that it had stopped shipment of the Second-Generation Intel Core (Sandy Bridge) chipset due to a circuit design "oversight." The defect in the "Cougar Point" chipset--which accompanies the main Sandy Bridge processor--can potentially affect access to a hard-disk drive, optical drive, or other device that connects to a computer using SATA technology.

Today, it was possible to order a Dell XPS 17 online, for example, with a Second-Generation Intel Core i7-2630QM processor and a delivery date of February 22 (the link to that Dell product page was not accessible from the Dell XPS 17 sales page front door, but was generated from a product search on Google Shopping). This system configuration was generated despite a statement from Intel yesterday that it had "discovered a design issue in a recently released support chip, the Intel 6 Series, code-named Cougar Point, and has implemented a silicon fix...[Intel] expects to begin delivering the updated version of the chipset to customers in late February and expects full volume recovery in April."

A Dell saleswoman said she was not aware of the Sandy Bridge flaw and gave a quote with a build time of "a couple of weeks."

Today, Dell issued this statement. "Dell and Intel are in communication regarding the design issue in the recently released Intel 6 Series (Sandy Bridge) support chip, code-name Cougar Point. This affects four currently available Dell products, the XPS 8300, the Vostro 460, the Alienware M17x R.3 and the Alienware Aurora R.3, as well as several other planned products including XPS 17 with 3D. We're committed to addressing this with customers who have already purchased one of the four products and will provide further details on this as it becomes available," Dell said. … Read more

With Intel's surprising Sandy Bridge news suggesting new computers featuring the processors might see delays, we couldn't help but ask ourselves whether the Sandy Bridge issues mean new MacBook Pros will come later rather than sooner.

First of all, we have no idea when new MacBook Pros are hitting next. However, assuming they're due for a refresh within the next few months, a few things seem likely: They're going to receive new Sandy Bridge processors, including the older Core 2 Duo-toting 13-inch MacBook Pro. And, they'll likely arrive after the competition. At least, that's … Read more

Update: Unedited desktop vendor responses added to the bottom of the post. We'll add more as they come in.

Following the news this morning about the serial-ATA chip flaw in Intel's new Sandy Bridge-supporting chipsets, we immediately thought of the two (soon to be three) Sandy Bridge-powered PC's we've reviewed since the January 9 launch.

In addition to the PCs we've gotten our hands on from Falcon Northwest and Origin (and soon Maingear), virtually every other large and small desktop vendor has been shipping Sandy Bridge-equipped PCs for the past few weeks.

In light of this chipset flaw, whether you've spent $5,000 on a gaming system or $1,000 on a more modest desktop or all-on-one, you'd be right to want to know whether you need to send your system back, as well as who is going to pay for and parts, labor, or shipping costs.

First, the problem. According to Intel: "In some cases, the Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives."

A vendor who requested anonymity (Update: Intel is now on the record with the details of the flaw) told us the problem actually affects serial ATA ports two through five on a six-port motherboard. The affected ports are all Serial ATA II, so if you ordered a higher-end Serial ATA III/6.0 hard drive (and the vendor connected it to the right port), you should be safe (upgrade path anxieties not withstanding). If you do have components connected to the afflicted ports, we're told you may not ever see the issue. Intel told Anandtech regarding the frequency of the flaw: "over 3 years of use it would see a failure rate of approximately 5 - 15% depending on usage model." If the issue does manifest itself, you will experience slower read and write performance, but data integrity, according to Intel, won't be an issue.… Read more

The flaw Intel disclosed today in its Sandy Bridge chipset was caught early in the rollout of the company's new processor, so there aren't large numbers of systems in customers' hands. But the buyer beware caveat applies, as always.

Officially launched at this year's CES, Sandy Bridge--or "Second Generation Intel Core Processor"--is the first mainstream Intel chip to integrate graphics silicon directly onto the processor. It is also the first chip line based fully on Intel's leading-edge 32-nanometer manufacturing process. These two features allow Intel to offer a power-efficient processor with improved multimedia … Read more

Intel has discovered a design flaw related to its new Sandy Bridge chip, the company said today.

The flaw has forced the chipmaker to stop shipments of a chipset, though Intel also announced that it has a design fix in place. Intel expects the cost of repair and replacement to be around $700 million, forcing it to cut its sales forecast for the first quarter by $300 million.

Prior to the announcement, trading of Intel's stock was halted on the New York Stock Exchange for about 25 minutes. Since trading resumed around 7:20 a.m. PT, investor reaction … Read more

One of the most common reader questions we get is something along these lines: "I'm thinking of buying a Brand X laptop. Should I buy it now, or is some big update right around the corner?" A typical variation is: "I want to buy a MacBook, but I hear a rumor that new models are coming soon. Should I wait?"

Recently, many of these questions have been about 13-inch laptops, the only screen size important enough to essentially stand alone as its own category. The reason is pure practicality. A 13-inch laptop (a category some call thin-and-light, but we simply call 13-inch) sits smack in the middle between mainstream laptops that are designed to sit on your desk all day and ultraportable laptops that are meant for on-the-go use.

Put another way, a 13-inch laptop is the largest size we'd consider carrying around several days per week, and also the smallest size we'd be able to use for a full day of desktop computing. That's likely one of the reasons the 13-inch Apple MacBook became so popular: it was a laptop that could serve double duty at home and on the go.

To answer the second reader question first, there have been some rumors lately of new MacBooks, and some kind of springtime design update or refresh of internal components isn't out of the question (the basic look of the aluminum MacBook has remained essentially unchanged for a few years). That said, the "new MacBooks are coming" narrative is a bit evergreen. One could get away with writing some variation on that story just by throwing a dart at a wall calendar. We're never that far away from a refresh or update of some kind. … Read more