Well, what do we have here? It’s the Sony Vaio M series netbook, as yet unannounced but sitting here getting detailed all the same. The 10.1-inch netbook, which looks, well, pretty much identical to the Sony Vaio W series, is apparently going to boast a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM, a 250GB hard drive, plus 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, and a built-in webcam. There’s no pricing information or dates of availability for these bad boys yet, but there’s one more shot after the break to gander at — if you’re so inclined.

Continue reading Sony Vaio M surfaces… unofficially

Sony Vaio M surfaces… unofficially originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While MSI didn’t have an official unveiling of the new F Series laptops at CeBIT, the 14-inch FX400 and 15.6-inch FX600 models and their NVIDIA Optimus placards were the first thing that caught our eye at the company’s booth. In typical MSI fashion, it looks like there will be a number of configurations of the two models, but it appears that both with pack Core i5 processors and use NVIDIA’s technology to automatically switch between the integrated and discrete GeForce GPU. While there’s no word on availability, an MSI rep on hand suggested that the systems would start somewhere in between $800 to $1,000. That doesn’t sound too bad, though the early units we got to play around with were a bit plasticy and the keyboards could sub as a trampoline. Those issues aside, we’re quite excited that MSI’s been added to the Optimus team, and that the company has designed a fairly nice looking chassis with a (thankfully) non-glossy lid.

MSI’s race car inspired F Series packs NVIDIA Optimus, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 07:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thought HP was done unleashing its new line of semi-rugged EliteBooks at CES? So did we, but apparently it needed just a little bit more time to pull the 12.1-inch 2540p and 2740p out of the oven. An update to the 2530p, the 3.8-pound 2540p still has the same magnesium alloy chassis that’s met all those super-tough MIL-STD 810G military standard tests, but its innards have been freshened up with the alluring scent of Intel’s 2010 Core processors. Prices start at $1,099, but in typical HP fashion it will be configurable online with tons of juicy options, including standard and low voltage Core i5 and i7 processors and a range of 7,200RPM and SSD drives.

Up next is the 2740p which packs much of the same internal spec options as the 2540p (sans the low-voltage CPUs), but puts them into a convertible tablet form factor. Starting at $1,599, its capacitive multitouch 12.1-inch display now supports both pen and finger input and thus pits it head-to-head with Lenovo’s ThinkPad X201t, though from our hands-on we found the 3.8-pound 2740p to be much slimmer and lighter. A lot of that has to do with its flush battery, but if adding some juice (and thickness) is your thing, you can add a slate battery (or two!) to the bottom of the system. Both the 2540p and 2740p will be available later this month, but hit the hands-on gallery below to get a look at these magnesium puppies up close.

Continue reading HP adds EliteBook 2540p and 2740p to the lineup, brings the power and the touch

HP adds EliteBook 2540p and 2740p to the lineup, brings the power and the touch originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No offense to the previous ProBooks s-series, but we think HP may have finally removed the last pieces of boring from the line. The new crop of business laptops – if you can even call them that anymore – are available with 13.3, 14, 15.6 and 17.3-inch display sizes, and can be configured with Intel’s latest Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. There are too many configurations to list, but the $900 15.6-inch ProBook 4520s with a Core i5 CPU and a 500GB 7,200RPM drive sounds like a deal to us. Fear not graphics mavens, you can configure any of the models with ATI’s Mobility Radeon HD 5350 GPU. Specs aside, we were pretty enamored with the externals – all are clad in a brushed aluminum case and a matte surface lid that’s available in “caviar” brown or a reddish “bordeaux.” Our fingers were big fans of the chiclet keyboard, but the addition of the ClickPad with its integrated mouse buttons makes us a bit anxious, you know, given the issues we’ve had with those on the Mini 210 and Envys. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention HP’s new Day Starter software that lets the workaholics amongst you check a configured Outlook calender while the laptop boots up in the background — it doesn’t work yet with Google Cal, we asked. You should be able to start configuring the lappies in the next few weeks, but hit the break for some hands-on pics and the full PR.

Continue reading HP spices up ProBooks with Core 2010 CPUs, ClickPads and caviar paint

HP spices up ProBooks with Core 2010 CPUs, ClickPads and caviar paint originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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