Enthusiasts unwilling to compromise performance but still concerned about mobility should give Acer’s Predator 15 a look. It retains the potent GeForce GTX 980M with an ample 4GB of GDDR5, pairing it to a Core i7-6700HQ processor and 32GB of DDR4-2133 memory. The platform’s monster specs are rounded out by a 512GB Samsung SM951 SSD and 1TB HGST Travelstar—the most generously-sized storage subsystem in our round-up. Aesthetically, this is 100% a gaming notebook. Its W, A, S, D, and arrow keys sport red bezels; everything else is backlit in red; and the 10-key pad off to the right is backlit in blue. A gaming mode button next to the touchpad turns the control surface on and off, simultaneously toggling Windows key functionality. Its LED is green by default, so you end up with a somewhat discordant color scheme. More egregious is the Nvidia G-Sync monitor support sticker on the palm rest. The Predator’s 15.6” FHD panel isn’t G-Sync-capable. Rather, if you connect an external screen imbued with the technology to the DisplayPort output, G-Sync will work. Gotta be careful with that marketing…

Smaller still is Gigabyte’s P34W v5, which valiantly does battle against the Razer Blade. In many ways, the P34W v5 is actually a better platform. It benefits from a more modern Core i7-6700HQ processor, an NVMe-attached 128GB Samsung SSD plus a 1TB disk drive, and 16GB of DDR4 memory. You even get a USB 3.1 Type C port, three USB 3.0 ports, GbE, HDMI 2.0 out, and a card reader. And Gigabyte’s platform sells for $600 less, landing right around $1,800 for the configuration we reviewed. But its chassis isn’t as sturdy, you lose touch functionality, and the panel "only” offers QHD resolution (that’s sarcasm—2560x1440 is plenty, verging on retina-class pixel density from 16 inches away). We did discover that Nvidia’s own Game Ready notebook driver woouldn’t install, though. Updates need to come from Gigabyte instead. Lastly, the trackpad’s right- and left-click buttons are fashioned from a single piece of plastic that rocks on one side or the other. Varying travel across the buttons makes for an inconsistent experience.

Shave $500 off of the P34W v5’s price and you get Lenovo’s Y700 Touch. There are actually several different configurations ranging from $1,100 to $1,700, but our review unit lands at $1,300. It’s armed with a Core i7-6700HQ, GeForce GTX 960M, 16GB of DDR4 memory, a 128GB Samsung SSD, a 1TB hard drive, and a touch-enabled FHD display. Naturally, that GPU is the Y700’s biggest bottleneck, so don’t expect smooth frame rates in the latest titles at 1920x1080. Dial back the detail settings, though, and you should be able to strike a balance between performance and graphics quality. Outside of games, Lenovo’s Y700 Touch is an exceptional general-purpose machine. The 15.6” form factor and 2.88kg weight are mobile enough, while the red-backlit keyboard is a pleasure to type on. Lenovo’s fit and finish is consistently solid. And although there’s a bit of flex in the lid, you’d never guess that this is a value-oriented laptop by looking at it.Many of the conclusions drawn in laptop reviews are subjective. They depend on a reviewer’s preferences, and it’s unavoidable that we’ll have differences in opinion. Wherever possible, though, we rely on benchmark data to evaluate the quantifiable aspects of performance.

Each of the samples in this round-up was loaded with a gaming suite, including Unigine Valley, 3DMark, Metro Last Light, Tomb Raider, GRID 2, and Thief (all of which have a benchmark function). Each test runs three times, and their results are averaged. Plugged in to the wall, we disable G-Sync before generating frame rate data. Away from it, we leave Nvidia’s Battery Boost technology set to its default 30 FPS ceiling, if only to gauge whether a graphics system can maintain that frame rate.Our battery life test involves calibrating every notebook’s screen to 120 cd/m² brightness and running Unigine Valley at 1920x1080 in a loop until the power source is depleted. Each system is set to its Balanced power profile with sleep mode disabled.Where necessary, the notebooks are also disassembled to confirm configuration and expansion options.Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.
The Video Electronics Standards Association has announced Embedded DisplayPort (eDP) 1.4a—the newest version of the popular video port specification. eDP 1.4a supersedes version 1.4, which was first introduced two years ago in February 2013.

• Toshiba PA3588U-1BRS Battery
• Toshiba PA3534U-1BRS Battery
• toshiba PA3757U-1BRS Battery
• toshiba PA3788U-1BRS Battery
• toshiba PA3817U-1BRS Battery
• Apple A1321 Battery
• Apple A1382 Battery
• Acer Aspire V5 Battery
• HP B0Y84EA Battery
• HP B6M23EA Battery
• HP B6M92EA Battery
• HP B6N04EA Battery
• HP LJ487UT Battery
• HP LJ487UT-ABA Battery

Version 1.4a includes upgrades to the Display Stream Compression (DSC) standard and segmented display panel capability, allowing for greater data rates at lower power consumption. The new standard can move bits at 8.1 GB/s per lane and can be divided into two or four screen segments, adding up to a theoretical limit of 32.4 GB/s. It can support 8K (7680 x 4320) resolution at 60 Hz, and 4K at 120 Hz with 10-bit color.It should be noted that while eDP is part of the DisplayPort family, it and DisplayPort (which is currently on a 1.3 spec introduced in September 2014) aren't identical. Instead, eDP is designed for internal connections, such as machines with integrated graphics like tablets, smartphones, or notebook-gpu connections. eDP won't be changing the capabilities of the monitor you connect to your desktop PC, then, but the 1.4a spec will affect the capabilities of integrated displays in the future. 4K laptops and tablets, here we come.

eDP 1.4a (as well as the previous 1.4 version) also supports Adaptive Sync, also known as AMD's FreeSync technology, but it's an optional feature within the standard.The new standard will be available to VESA-member hardware developers immediately, but as usual, it takes time for a new standard to make its way into consumer hardware. We expect to see machines built using eDP 1.4a to emerge by 2016. Razer has unveiled an updated version of its 14-inch gaming laptop, the Razer Blade. The new Blade gets a significant bump in power over its predecessor while remaining at the same price: starting at $2,200.To start, Razer has doubled the Blade's memory to 16GB RAM. The CPU and GPU also have been bumped up to the latest Intel and Nvidia offerings: a Core i7-4720HQ quad-core processor and a 3GB GDDR5 Nvidia GTX 970M. The processor is clocked at 2.6GHz and can be turbo-boosted up to 3.6Ghz, while the GTX 970M is based on Nvidia's Maxwell architecture and should be able to handle most gaming at high settings.The screen is a 14-inch 3200x1800 IGZO touch display, a lower power display material ideal for high pixel densities. For further batter life management, the machine automatically transitions between Nvidia graphics and Intel HD Graphics 4600.

It's nice to see Razer push its gaming laptop beyond 1080p, but keep in mind that running games at the Blade's native 1800p resolution will be more taxing on its 970M GPU than running them at 1080p. Razer's also selling a refreshed Blade running a 1080p IPS panel and 8GB of RAM. That configuration is cheaper, at $2000.The new Blade weighs in at 4.5 pounds and launches on February 16th. It's already on sale online at Razer's store.
Origin had a whole load of new gaming laptops to show off at CES this year. The svelte EVO15-S, which weighs only 4.3 pounds, has been upgraded with Nvidia’s latest 970M GPU. It’s damn light for a gaming laptop, and still feels sturdy. But Origin hasn’t done anything drastic with that system—it’s simply gotten a spec bump to stay current. The rest of its gaming laptop are a different story. Their most powerful laptop, the EON-17X, has gotten a chassis redesign to be thinner and lighter than the previous models. And both the EON-17X and its 15-inch cousin, the EON15-X, are running some brand new, serious hardware: GTX 980M graphics with 8GB of VRAM alongside desktop Intel Core i7 4790K processors.

• HP LJ488UT-ABA Battery
• HP LJ502UT-ABA Battery
• HP 633733-151 Battery
• HP HSTNN-XB3C Battery
• HP HSTNN-XB2F Battery
• HP HSTNN-Q89C Battery
• HP QK646U Battery
• Battery for Fujitsu Lifebook NH532
• Dell Inspiron 1545 Battery
• DELL XPS L501x Battery
• DELL XPS L701x Battery
• DELL Vostro V13 Battery
• DELL Vostro V130 Battery

Origin says the EON17-X is about 37% thinner and 30% lighter than the previous model. It weighs 8.6 pounds, while the EON15-X weighs 7.5. The support for desktop CPUs is the big deal here. While the laptops start with more modest components configured on Origin’s store (the 2.9GHz Intel i5-4460S), they can be configured with beefy i5 4690Ks or i7 4790Ks. Go all the way, and Origin will even overclock the CPU to a full 4.4GHz, so all four cores are running at the i7’s normal turbo boost speed.The EON17-X and 15-X also have room for two m.2 PCIe SSDs, with two standard storage bays for SATA SSDs/HDDs. The m.2 SSDs can be run in RAID via SATA, and the graphics choices are the 970M with 6GB of VRAM or the 980M with 8GB of VRAM. These are some serious machines. Running on battery, Origin says you’ll get about two hours of normal use or one hour of gaming. But these are hefty desktop replacement machines that you’ll likely always want to have plugged into the wall.

The 17-X and 15-X are about as user-serviceable as gaming laptops get. Memory and storage are obviously upgradeable, and the graphics cards are MXM, meaning they’ll be swappable with other GPUs down the line. Origin covers that upgrade under its warranty, if you’re squeamish about doing it yourself. The best part is that you can change out that desktop CPU, too. The laptops use the standard Intel LGA1150 socket, so any future CPU on that platform will be interchangeable. That’s pretty cool.While desktop CPUs are significantly more powerful than Intel’s best mobile CPUs usually found in gaming laptops, you’re not going to need that extra power for most games unless you’re multitasking. For video editing or other seriously CPU-intensive tasks, though, this is a real step up from a mobile i7 CPU.The Origin EON15-X starts at $1842 with a desktop CPU on Origin’s site, while the 17-X is a touch more at $1878. Both are available to customize and order as of today.

Posted by: akkusmarkt at 03:32 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 1741 words, total size 14 kb.