Asus X77 laptop update to feature Intel Core i5 CPU, Radeon HD 5730 graphics

Gaming on a laptop is not something I enjoy doing personally, but I do know that there are a lot of people out there who do enjoy doing this. So I can understand why anyone would be excited over hearing that the Asus X77 laptop, a 17.3-inch screened monster that is currently available for anyone with a heart for gaming and a very deep pocket, will get an upgrade this coming January 2010 to include an Intel Core i5 430 processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 graphics.

The particular GPU mentioned above has not yet been revealed by AMD and will likely be a less powerful version of the Radeon HD 5750 and 5770 GPUs. Other specs include two 500GB hard drives, 4GB of memory, eSATA, HDMI-out and a native resolution of 1600x900. Pricing info is not yet known at the moment, though it will probably be around 1000 Euros or about 66,500 Pesos.

Source: [Fudzilla]

Acer chairman faults Dell and HP for weak adoption of ultra-thin notebooks

Acer chairman JT Wang knows what consumers want their notebooks like: ultra-thin and with lots of battery life. Acer has put out quite remarkable models in their Timeline-series of notebooks, and they're enjoying a fair number of sales, but Wang believes that the numbers could be bigger if only American companies like Dell and HP wouldn't get in the way. Acer's Wang blames Dell and HP for preventing ultra-thin notebooks from becoming the mainstream product in the market by bringing down prices of its own non-ultra-thin mainstream notebooks to as low as $399. The small price gap is what holds back adoption of ultra-thin notebooks, which are usually underpowered (for the sake of prolonging battery life) compared to current mainstream notebooks. Acer is currently planning on releasing more ultra-thin models in the future, but if Dell and HP won't let up, there's a chance that we might not see these products ever released at all.

Source: [DigiTimes]

Lenovo ThinkPad W701 might carry Core i7 Extreme CPU

A new W series ThinkPad from Lenovo is on the horizon according to documents recently unearthed from the FCC's web site. It will reportedly have a Samsung-produced 17-inch 1920x1200 LCD screen, 320GB Fujitsu hard drive and a built-in Wacom Digitizer. What's interesting is that it is also listed as having a 2GHz Intel CPU, and Engadget infers that it may well be an Intel Core i7 Extreme CPU with 8MB of L3 cache, 3.2GHz single-core max speed and 55W TDP. This doesn't bode well unless you're willing to spend ridiculous amounts of cash to get the power of a desktop on your lap. And besides, this info hasn't been confirmed by Lenovo and can't be cross-checked anywhere else for now, so don't cross out the ThinkPad W701 from your Christmas wishlist just yet.

Sources: [FCC, Engadget]

17.3-inch Asus G72GX 3D notebook to launch in Q1 2010

Personally, I don't think it's such a good idea to have an Intel Core i7 CPU on a laptop, but if you have no qualms about that then you might be interested in an upcoming Asus notebook which features the said processor along with an Nvidia GeForce GTM 160M GPU, 4GB of memory, two 320GB hard drives and a 17.3-inch screen. This notebook is going to be called the Asus G72GX 3D notebook and it gets the '3D' in its name for bundled active shutter glasses which give it a 3D effect in use. A 15.6-inch version of this notebook is also expected to launch soon as the Asus G51J3D, featuring about the same specs, only with a smaller screen. Pricing info is currently unknown for both notebooks, though it may be revealed soon so expect an update to be posted.

Source: [DigiTimes]

Intel to launch Core i5 and Core i3 processors in mainstream notebooks on January 2010

While having Intel's top-of-the-line Core i7 processors on notebooks might not sound like a very good idea to some (taking power consumption and heat generated into account), having Intel's Core i5 and upcoming Core i3 processors on notebooks seem like a much more interesting proposition. And this will become a reality soon as Intel is expected to launch a total of four 32nm dual-core Arrandale CPUs during the first half of January 2010, which are the Core i5-520M, Core i5-430M, Core i3-350M and Core i3-330M. This is according to notebook players being cited in a recent report by DigiTimes. The Chinese news site adds:

The Intel Core i5-430M runs at a clock speed of 2.26GHz, but with Intel's Turbo Boost technology, it can run up to 2.53GHz for a single core. The Intel Core i3-350M also runs at 2.26GHz, but does not support Turbo Boost technology; Intel Core i3-330M runs at 2.13GHz and also does not support Turbo Boost technology.

Core i5 CPUs will feature a graphics clock that runs at a base speed of 500MHz but can also run at speeds up to 766MHz. The Core i3 also runs at 500MHz but can also run at speeds up to 667MHz. Both series support DDR3 memory up to 1066MHz and feature 3MB L3 Cache with a TDP of 35W.

This is definitely good news and is worth waiting out for. Do not buy new notebooks come Christmas time is what I'm trying to say.

Source: [DigiTimes]