bridge

When should you buy a laptop? That's always a very difficult question--buy too soon after new technology hits, and you miss out on refinements and price drops. On the other hand, you certainly don't want to spend upwards of $1,000 on a device that feels outdated just months later. It's an even more difficult decision in the wake of Microsoft's look at Windows 8 in Barcelona, Spain.

For Mac users, the decision's generally simple: wait for the new version, and buy, buy, buy. MacBooks, like iPhones and iPads, only come in so many versions, and they rarely drop in price anywhere.

Windows PCs? Well, that's another story. … Read more

Intel today spelled out in more exacting detail just what the Ivy Bridge chip delay means in the wake of comments published Sunday from an Intel executive.

"Reports of an eight-week delay to the Ivy Bridge launch are inaccurate and our schedule has only been impacted by a few weeks," spokesman Jon Carvill told CNET today.

So, for instance, if a desktop Ivy Bridge product was slated for an April launch, that would be pushed to May. And a mobile product scheduled for May, would launch in June. Intel always staggers production schedules. For example, Intel's most … Read more

Dell's first ultrabook, the XPS 13, is now available. And it's attracting a lot of attention as one of Dell's best laptop designs to date.

The XPS 13 boasts solid specs for the base $999 configuration, is priced well below the MacBook Air, uses a smaller footprint than 13-inch competitors, and taps carbon fiber materials in the chassis to keep the weight below three pounds.

And Dell will announce Tuesday that it is seeing lots of demand already. "We're seeing strong consumer and business demand for the new XPS 13," said Michael Tatelman, Dell Vice President and General Manager of Americas Consumer, in a statement to be released Tuesday.

The XPS 13 wil also be sold at Best Buy from Tuesday.

Starting at $999.99, it comes -- at that price -- with a 13.3-inch/300-nit/1,366x768 display squeezed into a 12-inch chassis (roughly), an Intel Core i5-2467M processor, Intel HD Graphics 3000, a 128GB solid-state drive, 4GB of memory, backlit keyboard, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit. It is 0.71 inches at its thickest point.

Other standard features include a 47WHr 6-cell battery (built into the laptop and not replaceable by the customer) rated at a maximum of over eight hours, one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0, mini Display-Port, 1.3-megapixel Webcam, and dual-array digital microphones. … Read more

It's apparently official. Intel's next-gen Ivy Bridge processor is delayed, according to a report in the Financial Times, citing an Intel executive.

"I think maybe it's June now," Sean Maloney, executive vice-president of Intel and chairman of Intel China, told the Times. Maloney attributes the delay to the manufacturing process, the Times said.

Though Intel had never announced a particular launch date, the chipmaker had indicated "spring." A June launch clearly makes this a delay.

An Intel spokesperson is also cited in the Times article as saying that the company's plans to … Read more

Intel's upcoming Ivy Bridge chip will be a big step up in graphics performance for Intel. And benchmark numbers suggest that you may want to wait for that new Ivy Bridge-based MacBook or Windows lappy before upgrading your system.

A Chinese-language Web site has posted benchmark numbers (reposted by CPU World) that show a jump in graphics processing unit (GPU) performance of up to 122 percent over the current Sandy Bridge processor.

"In 3DMark Vantage synthetic benchmarks Core i5-3570K (Ivy Bridge) achieved 88.9% higher GPU score when using Entry preset, and 122.1% better score with Performance preset … Read more

Lower-end ultrabooks equipped with hybrid disk drives could hit price points as low as $600, according to an Asia-based report.

Because hybrid HDDs--which combine a small-capacity solid-state drive with a standard hard disk drive--cost about 50 percent less than solid-state-only drives, PC makers will opt for hybrid drives in lower-end models, according to a report Wednesday in DigiTimes. This will send prices below $700.

Ultrabooks--skinny Windows 7 laptops that mimic the portability of tablets--currently bottom out at about $800. That includes the Toshiba Portege Z835, now priced as low as $799.99 at retail. The Z835 uses a 128GB SSD, … Read more

BlackBerry PlayBook users eager for the long-awaited 2.0 upgrade could get their wishes answered next week.

The new OS is expected to launch February 21, according to blogging site N4BB, relying on intel from its own sources. The confirmation followed previous "rumblings" pointing to that date for the launch.

Canadian blog site Mobile Syrup also added its take by revealing an upcoming Best Buy flyer listing the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 upgrade as arriving in February. The flyer is due to hit the public on Friday and stretch out for one week, hinting that the new … Read more

The next-generation Intel chip destined to populate the upcoming crop of ultrabooks is delayed, an Asia-based report claims.

The delay of the "Ivy Bridge" processor is being reported by DigiTimes, a publication that typically voices the concerns of device makers. Those concerns are just as often opinion as they are fact.

That said, the key point is that volume shipments of Ivy Bridge won't happen until "after June," Digitimes said, citing sources at "first-tier notebook vendors [that] are having trouble digesting their Sandy Bridge notebook inventories due to the weak global economy."

A &… Read more

The ultrabook is the latest fad being pushed by PC vendors. But these lightweight laptops are unlikely to lift the market this year, according to J.P Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz.

Trying to capture the success of Apple's MacBook Air, PC makers announced a slew of new and upcoming ultrabooks at last month's CES. Intel has spearheaded the drive, even going so far as to create a $300 million ultrabook fund to help vendors transition to these light and thin "must-have" devices.

But the results aren't likely to pay off, says Moskowitz, at least not … Read more