HP Envy Sleekbook 6z review: an inexpensive thin-and-light with AMD innards

Posted on 13/07/2012 by Sarah Silbert

More Info

HP unveils Envy Spectre XT Ultrabook, other thin-and-lights in various sizes
HP takes EliteBook W-series on a trip to Ivy Bridge, throws in Z220 Xeon for good measure
HP refreshes EliteBook line with five new models, Ivy Bridge and optional LTE

HP has been fleshing out its Ultrabook lineup as of late, most recently adding the metal-clad Envy Spectre XT to the mix, but the company is also addressing the lower end of the market with its Sleekbook line, announced back in May. Confusingly, these thin-and-light systems look exactly the same as the new Envy-branded Ultrabooks, except that the Sleekbooks are less expensive -- namely because for one reason or another they don't meet Intel's Ultrabook guidelines. One such notebook, the Envy Sleekbook 6z, stands apart from the Ultrabook fold with an AMD Trinity APU -- a spec that helps keep the starting price nice and low at $600.

That's not to say that all of HP's Sleekbooks ditch Intel processors, but given the choice between and AMD- and Intel-based model we quickly chose the former. After all, the 6z is the first Trinity-powered system we've had the chance to test, so we were naturally curious to see how it stacks up against recent Ivy Bridge machines -- and we imagine you are, too. So without any further ado, let's get to it.

Gallery: HP Envy Sleekbook 6z review

Continue reading HP Envy Sleekbook 6z review: an inexpensive thin-and-light with AMD innards

HP Envy Sleekbook 6z review: an inexpensive thin-and-light with AMD innards originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung teases Series 9 Ivy Bridge Ultrabook, leaves availability in the ether

Posted on 03/05/2012 by Zachary Lutz

Samsung's latest Series 9 Ultrabook is certainly a beautiful piece of engineering, but really, what's the fun in purchasing a new laptop with yesterday's internals? Fortunately, users won't need to make that compromise, as the company has now outed a refreshed version of the computer that's complete with Ivy Bridge internals. The move follows Samsung's recent reveal of the Series 7 Gamer laptop, but as you'd expect, components in the Series 9 are geared more toward efficiency than performance. At its heart, you'll find a dual-core 1.7GHz Core i5 3317U CPU (which has yet to be announced), Intel HD Graphics 4000 and the HM75 Express chipset. While its internal storage remains the same, with a 128GB SSD, its memory has received a pleasant bump up to 8GB. No word yet on pricing or availability, but for those who want to own the very latest, we invite you to stay tuned.

[Thanks, Brooks]

Samsung teases Series 9 Ivy Bridge Ultrabook, leaves availability in the ether originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 20:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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15-inch Series 7 Chronos with Ivy Bridge surfaces on Samsung’s Canadian site

Posted on 25/04/2012 by Dana Wollman

When it rains it pours. Hot on the heels of announcing that 17-inch Series 7 Chronos laptop it teased back at CES, Samsung is doing the ~~predictable~~ sensible thing and refreshing the 15-inch version with an Ivy Bridge processor as well. So far, we see it listed on Samsung's Canadian site with a 1GB NVIDIA GT640M GPU and a quad-core Core i7-3615QM CPU (remember that Intel hasn't announced its dual-core variants yet). Curiously, though, we don't actually see it for sale online anywhere, it's unclear how much it costs and that Ivy Bridge configuration isn't even listed as an option on the company's US site. We've emailed Samsung for clarification, but in the meantime you may as well consider this a placeholder -- and will yourself to hold off a little longer before pulling the trigger on a mid-sized laptop.

[Thanks, Hugo]

15-inch Series 7 Chronos with Ivy Bridge surfaces on Samsung's Canadian site originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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15-inch Samsung Series 9 review (2012)

Posted on 09/04/2012 by Dana Wollman

Samsung Series 9 (NP900X3A) laptop review

Samsung unveils redesigned Series 9 laptops with 13- and 15-inch displays, starting at $1,399

Spotted: the elusive 15-inch Samsung Series 9

Before there were Ultrabooks, there was the Samsung Series 9. When it arrived on the scene last year, measuring .64 inches thick, weighing 2.8 pounds and packing a blazing SSD, it seemed to offer Windows users the closest thing to a no-compromise experience -- provided, of course, they were willing to pony up the requisite $1,649. As it turns out, the Series 9 was great -- memorable, even -- but not without flaws. It lacked an SD slot, the trackpad was jumpy and the display resolution topped out at a humdrum 1366 x 768.

A year later, Samsung is back with a second-generation laptop that promises to correct all of these shortcomings, and ushers in an even thinner, even lighter design. Make that two laptops: Sammy's selling a 15-inch Ultrabook, too. And truly, there's nothing quite like it: nothing quite this thin, with this large a screen. (Consider for a moment that it measures just .08 inches thicker than the new 13-inch Series 9, which is already thinner than most other Ultrabooks on the market.) As always, though, luxury doesn't come cheap. The 15-inch Series 9 will cost $1,500 when it ships at the end of this month (the 13-inch version is available for an also-pricey $1,400, though we haven't gotten to take that model for a spin yet.) Ultimately, then, are the Series 9's elegant aluminum design and 1600 x 900 matte display enough to justify the premium you'll pay over other Ultrabooks? And does the 15-inch version offer long enough battery life to match its larger size? Let's find out.

Gallery: 15-inch Samsung Series 9 review (2012)

Continue reading 15-inch Samsung Series 9 review (2012)

15-inch Samsung Series 9 review (2012) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 review

Posted on 04/04/2012 by Michael Gorman

When Acer's Aspire Timeline Ultra notebooks made their first appearance at CES, these 14- and 15-inch laptops seemed like little more than the successors to Acer's TimelineX series. Thin-and-light laptops, complete with optical drive and some likely reasonable prices. While there's no mistaking that DVD burner and mainstream screen size, we now know a few things we didn't then: the 15-inch version you see up there packs NVIDIA's next-gen Kepler graphics... and Acer's calling it an Ultrabook.

Acer's branding that there Ultra M3 as an Ultrabook because it's less than 20mm (.8 inches) thin, but given that 15-inch display, numpad, optical drive and graphical horsepower, it's hard to think of this as anything other than a mainstream laptop. If you accept Acer's marketing scheme, though, this is the first so-called Ultrabook to ship with discrete graphics. (We're expecting to see more -- many more -- of these.) As of this writing, at least, we don't have a confirmed price, though Acer has said the pricing for the Ultra series should align with current TimelineX notebooks (which is to say, we're hardly expecting this to be a $1,500 machine.) Until we know for sure, it'll be hard to say how sweet of a deal this is, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about what it actually does. How does the performance stack up against regular 'ol 15-inch laptop? Does it pummel your garden-variety Ultrabooks like you'd expect it to? Join us past the break where we break down exactly what this 'tweener can do.

Gallery: Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 review