The 3D craze has broken free of its early-adopter shackles, thanks in no small part to the huge success of Avatar, and manufacturers are stepping up their assault on the tech-savvy public. This model of the Asus G51J is the first 3D Vision laptop, and comes complete with the necessary glasses and transceiver in the box.It¡¯s not the first 3D laptop we¡¯ve seen ¨C last year's Acer Aspire 5738DZG 3D used a polarised panel and passive glasses ¨C but it¡¯s the first to use Nvidia¡¯s superior active-shutter technology. The quick-start guide will be a help for most people, but it isn¡¯t difficult to set up: a wizard within the Nvidia drivers holds your hand through the process, and a demo animation allows you to dial the stereoscopic effect to a comfortable level before diving into any games.The good news is that the 3D effect works exceptionally well, and we¡¯re beginning to see game developers make proper use of it in the latest titles. Even going back to an older title such as Far Cry 2 sees the niggles from our early tests last year all but ironed out after a host of driver revisions. If major titles keep building it in from the start, we can really see it being attractive to hardcore gamers.
The 15.6in screen size isn¡¯t the hindrance we¡¯d imagined provided you sit close to it, and the frame of the chassis creates the appearance of a window into a deep game world. The speakers are loud and full by laptop standards, which adds to the immersion, and this well-planned bundle includes a comfortable but cheap Razer Salmosa mouse to aid your gaming performance.If this all sounds like a glowing recommendation, there are still major issues that need to be overcome. The glasses are about as clunky and unappealing as you¡¯d believe possible, although that¡¯s for Nvidia to rectify. A bigger problem is that of brightness: as the shutter glasses darken things significantly the screen needs a strong backlight to compensate, and the Asus can¡¯t match a decent 3D monitor in this respect. It meant we often missed things in the heat of battle, particularly when foes hid in the shadows.The other main stumbling block is the graphics card. This works by producing two full-resolution images and alternating them, which puts added pressure on the GPU. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M coped as well as it could ¨C and the fairly low 1,366 x 768 resolution makes a lot of sense to limit the strain ¨C but it still whined audibly and roasted the desk like a hairdryer during games.
The company revealed the successor to its Aspire Timeline range of laptops - the Aspire Timeline X series - its new roster of mid-range entertainment notebooks, and its luxurious new Aspire Ethos models.The Timeline X range continues to focus on ultraportability, and includes 13.3in, 14in and 15.6in models which Acer claim weigh in at 1.8kg, 2.2kg and 2.4kg respectively. The 11.6in models announced in the US won't be coming to our shores until later in the year.Read Sasha Muller's first impressions of the Acer Timeline X Series here
The redesigned chassis' measure as little as 25.4mm thick, and portability goes hand-in-hand with the promise of all-day computing. Acer claims that the Timeline X models will run for a minimum of eight hours, and as long as 12 hours with its proprietary PowerSmart software. Prices are expected to start at around ¡ê600 inc VAT.The consumer-focussed lines have also received a welcome update, with a raft of Aspire models redesigned from the ground up. The additions consist of both 15.6in and 17.3in models replete with 16:9 ratio displays. Intel's latest Core processors take centre stage alongside ATI's 5000 series of DirectX 11 compatible graphics chipsets.
Acer is also bolstering its high-end credentials with the arrival of the Aspire Ethos: a huge, metal-clad 18.4in desktop replacement. With a focus firmly upon entertainment, the Ethos partners a 1080p screen with a Blu-ray drive and an integrated set of 5.1 speakers. Prices are expected to begin at ¡ê1,099 inc VAT.At the Intel Developer Forum this morning, Doug Fisher, general manager of Intel¡¯s software and services group, announced a new line-up of Chrome OS-powered devices, due in the shops by Christmas.At the top of the list was HP¡¯s new Chromebook 14, which features a 14in screen, optional integrated 4G and a nine-hour battery life. Devices from Acer and Toshiba were also promised.The Chromebox concept gets a new lease of life as well, courtesy of Asus. The new box, similar in size and appearance to Intel¡¯s own NUC, is aimed at kiosks and call-centres as well as home use.Sundar Pichaii joined Doug Fisher on stage for the announcement
"The new generation of devices with the Haswell microarchitecture has improved battery life by 50%, performance by 15%", declared Fisher, who was then joined on stage by Google¡¯s Sundar Pichai, senior VP in charge of Android, Chrome and apps.
"Chrome OS already has 25% of the sub-$300 market," declared Pichai. "I¡¯m excited about these new devices. With Haswell you get great performance with all-day battery ¨C nine to ten hours ¨C and at the price points they¡¯re going to come in at, I think they¡¯re going to be hugely disruptive in the future."The computer will feature a touchscreen keyboard and use the back of the screen¡¯s glass substrate as a cover, according to a report in the DigiTimesThe reinforced glass substrate being used for the laptop is the same as those used in LCD TVs, and the back will be printed with colour to give the illusion of a conventional laptop cover, the report claims.The frameless laptop will be launched in the second half of this year, using a screen manufactured by Corning.In a meeting room on the 37th floor of Samsung¡¯s Seoul headquarters, Kevin Lee, the vice president of the company¡¯s R&D department, is clutching a touchpad ripped from a once-working laptop.The proud father of a team that ushered the Series 9 from the wild imagination of Samsung¡¯s designers to Ultrabook reality, he¡¯s showing a small group of journalists from around the world how the Series 9 came into being ¨C and, thrillingly, tearing a trio of Series 9s to pieces to show what goes into making the world¡¯s thinnest laptop.
As Mr Lee speaks, the expressionless row of faces that sits behind him tells its own story. It would be easy to mistake the veneer of quiet Korean reserve for exhaustion; Kevin beams with pride as he recounts the fact that the team crammed three years of R&D into only one year. One of his colleagues seems to wince visibly as he mentions it.A year doesn¡¯t sound like an eternity to develop a landmark laptop, so Mr Lee stresses the point ¨C they normally would have needed roughly 40,000 man-hours of work to complete the task, and they delivered the final Series 9 in around 9,000 hours, or one year non-stop. His English occasionally falters, but it¡¯s clear to see that he doesn¡¯t begrudge the effort ¨C his grin stretches from ear to ear.At least the effort wasn¡¯t in vain. We were duly impressed with the Series 9 when it made its way into PC Pro¡¯s labs ¨C it not only leaves many of its Ultrabook rivals looking decidedly ordinary, it feels unerringly stout for a laptop that¡¯s barely thicker than this magazine. And it¡¯s no slouch either.So how did Mr Lee¡¯s team shoehorn so much power into such a slender frame? That¡¯s what we¡¯re here to find out.We enter the room to find a trio of dismembered Series 9s scattered across the desks. The chassis, once rock-solid, looks vulnerable. Dainty, delicate sheets of aluminium lie side by side, accompanied by logic boards, LCD panels and an assortment of fans and cables.
As he tumbles the components between his fingers, the enthusiasm on Mr Lee¡¯s face paints a picture of a man who loves his job. Every component in the Series 9 has been whittled down to its barest essentials; the mSATA SSD squeezes hundreds of gigabytes into something little bigger than a postage stamp; the motherboard is split into three to make room for the heatpipes and fans required to cool the Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor; the RAM soldered to the motherboard uses more densely populated memory chips to save space. Even the fans seem dainty: weighing only a few grams, these are a world¡¯s first, measuring an impossibly slender 4mm in depth.Mr Lee calls for the next slide in his PowerPoint presentation. With every Series 9 starting life as a solid brick of aluminium, CNC machining hollows out the laptop¡¯s body to within an accuracy of one-thousandth of a millimetre. It leaves a metal skeleton with just enough room inside for the essential componentry. There¡¯s no flab, no excess, not a fraction of a millimetre to spare.
One of Mr Lee¡¯s colleagues picks up a keyboard, itself already detached from the rest of the chassis, and yanks insistently at its corner. One of the Scrabble-tile keys pops off as he wrestles with it, swiftly followed by another, before the keyboard gives way, peeling into its composite parts, a paper-thin strip of electrical contacts flopping to and fro.The keys are self-explanatory, but the perforated sheet of plastic underneath is more mysterious. It¡¯s a prime example of the several design challenges faced, and eventually surmounted, by the team. The original Series 9 was already slim, but improving on the old model while making the laptop more than 25% thinner required a drastic rethink.Acer's Aspire Timeline range is no stranger to PC Pro's A List, and so the chance of getting to grips with the newly redesigned laptops was more than enough to send us sprinting the 500 metres from our office to the Sanderson Hotel, where Acer was unveiling its latest Timeline X laptops to the UK press.
If you were expecting a ground-up overhaul of the range, then the Timeline X serie
s might prove just a little underwhelming. There wasn't a great deal wrong with the original models, however, so the emphasis has been placed solidly on evolution, with the laptops benefiting from a host of aesthetic changes. The silver brushed aluminium lids of the previous range have been replaced by a stylish black brushed finish, and interiors which tread a fine line between subtle understatement and alluringly slick design.
It's not until you cast an eye over the previous Timeline range that you realise quite how much impact the minor tweaks have had. While the older models were attractive compared to many of the CULV laptops on the market, the grey, inoffensive physique was hardly eye-catching. Now the brushed black aluminium makes a bold statement on the outside, and the once-featureless interior is shod with a brushed silver aluminium finish and a glossy black keyboard surround.Even the trackpad's had some attention: its smooth, slightly concave figure is complemented with a single rocker button beneath. That scrabble-tile keyboard doesn't look to have changed much, but that's no bad thing. The spacious layout proved perfectly comfortable in use - although the wide channels between each key still look like a haven for crumbs, dust and accidental coffee spills - but we hope the half-height enter key will make way for a full-height one when UK models finally hit our shores.
Build quality seems to have taken a step forwards, too, with the slim 25.4mm
thick chassis of the 13.3in model feeling noticeably sturdier than its predecessor, and the rest of the range giving off an air of toughness that belies their relatively diminutive stature. The same screen sizes were in evidence - Acer had the 13.3in, 14in and 15.6in models on show - and all of them seemed to have benefited greatly from the brief return to the drawing board.
Scratch beneath the surface and a host of technological advances also rear into view. Intel's Core i3 and i5 processors take pride of place, while the larger two models in the range employ ATI's HD 5000 series graphics chipsets. Acer was particularly keen to stress the stamina of the new range, claiming a minimum of eight hours of battery life, and as much as 12 hours with its PowerSmart software working to keep power consumption as low as possible. The new range also features other power-saving measures such as low-power cooling fans and LED-backlit displays which, in tandem with Intel's DPST (Display Power Saving Technology), help to eke out the maximum amount of battery life.
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