ultrabooks

LAS VEGAS--Despite our early concerns that CES 2013 would be very light on laptops and other mobile computers, the show actually had plenty of new hardware to cover. That said, this year has been nowhere near last year's ultrabook-heavy lineup, which was a high point for laptops at CES.

While there have been a few standout laptops here at the show, almost more notable has been what's not here, from major announcements by some big brands to missing features on new products from others.

Here are some of the things that could have made CES 2013 an even … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Spotted at the Samsung booth at CES 2013 was an updated version of the company's Series 5 Ultra, a slim, midpriced ultrabook. Not getting a formal announcement, as the more high-profile Series 7 Ultra and Series 7 Chronos did, the updated Series 5 instead sneaked onto the show floor.

The new Series 5 will add a touch screen and backlit keyboard, and the overall design of the aluminum chassis is thinner, but still thick enough to hold an optical drive. The brushed-metal look is closer to the more expensive Series 7 and Series 9, making this look like … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Intel's CES 2013 press conference lacked the hard sell of last year's version, which was almost entirely devoted to all things ultrabook. But even as the grand ultrabook experiment -- a massive branding campaign to create a new laptop category from thin air -- shared the stage with smartphones, Atom chips, and tablets, the ultrabook idea continues to be one of the most influential ones I've seen in many years of laptop-watching.

The catch is, it's the ultrabook's ideas that have spread to nearly every corner of the laptop ecosystem, not the name itself. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Your next laptop may be touch whether you like it or not.

"To be an ultrabook with 4th generation core [processors], it will be required to have touch," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president of Intel's PC client group at the keynote today, referring to laptops based on Intel's upcoming "Haswell" chip.

That means all ultrabooks coming later this year -- likely in the summer timeframe -- will have touch, not as a feature, but as standard.

This will be a way for suppliers of Windows 8 ultrabooks to demonstrate that they have something … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Ultrabooks are nice, but tablets are even smaller. Unfortunately, Intel's Core i-series processors haven't been a perfect fit in that regard. Intel announced tweaks to its current Ivy Bridge lineup at this year's CES that will make thinner, better battery-efficient laptops and tablets in a matter of months.

While fourth-gen Intel Core i-series processors aren't here yet, more power-efficient 7-watt Intel Ivy Bridge processors are shipping now that allow thinner laptops and tablets with better battery life than the previous 10-watt CPUs.

These will show up in systems as early as this spring, in devices … Read more

Like many PC companies, Acer released a wide range of new laptops and hybrids alongside Windows 8 at the tail end of 2012. With fresh systems just hitting shelves, the company is highlighting those products at CES 2013, rather than announcing new additions.

We've gotten a few chances to check out Acer's Windows 8 launch lineup over the past two months, and have come away with a generally favorable impression. They run the gamut from traditional clamshell laptops with added touch screens to hybrids that straddle the line between PC and tablet. Highlights include:

Acer Aspire S7 This … Read more

Intel will talk more about limited-run versions of its Ivy Bridge processor next week at the Consumer Electronics Show. Those chips are expected to be used by select laptop and tablet vendors, as the chipmaker tries to take on rivals with increasingly power-efficient Core series silicon.

"Limited SKUs" of Intel's 3rd Generation processor, aka Ivy Bridge, will have a power rating below 10 watts, allowing the processor to throttle down to a sub-10-watt power envelope, an Intel spokesperson told CNET. This "will enable new ultrabook designs" and the chip is "coming very soon," … Read more

The story of last year's CES was all ultrabooks; this year, the PC story is all about Windows 8 and touch. Samsung's latest laptop fuses both into a touch-screen computer that's hardly a surprise but meets what feels like a new expectation threshold in upper-tier Windows ultrabooks.

The 13.3-inch Series 7 is a new ultrabook for Samsung, as opposed to last year's top-end Series 9 and budget-targeted Series 5. The all-aluminum laptop is more "multimedia-targeted" than the Series 9 ever was, with a 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution, discrete AMD HD8570M graphics, and JBL … Read more

Happy Free Shipping Day, fellow cheapskates. Nearly 1,700 online merchants are offering "free delivery by Christmas Eve," so today might be the ideal day to finish up your holiday shopping.

That said, lots of stores offer free shipping every day, and I have no doubt we'll see lots of other "free shipping in time for Christmas" offers in the days to come, so don't fret too much if you miss FSD.

Today I couldn't decide on a single deal, so instead I rounded up a bunch of good stuff -- a little … Read more