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Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/2914
For reasons unknown to me, Intel launched Arrandale this past Monday but laptop manufacturers apparently couldn't discuss their new Arrandale offerings until Thursday… at which point we received a ton of information from all the usual suspects. We have put together pictures and commentary of some - and we emphasize that this is only some - of the new Arrandale offerings, along with a few other interesting laptops, netbooks, and notebooks.
Alienware and Dell
As one of the biggest OEMs in the world, Dell naturally has quite a few Arrandale systems to announce. They also have a new Mini using Pineview, i7 upgrades for Alienware laptops, and a ton of other non-mobile products. Here's a quick look at some of the more interesting announcements.
Tired of 15" (and often larger) gaming notebooks? How about trying this on for size: Alienware is coming out with the M11x, an 11.6" laptop that provides reasonable gaming performance. Details on the internal components are a bit light at present, but we're told it can last over 6 hours with the discrete GeForce GT335M switched off (or around two hours with the dGPU enabled). We love switchable graphics!
Of course, you're probably wondering what the GT335M provides, and we asked NVIDIA for details. The GT335M is built on a 40nm process with DX10.1 support. It has 72 SPs and provides up to 233 GFLOPS of performance. The core clock is 450MHz with 1080MHz shader clocks and up to 1GB of 1066MHz GDDR3 on a 128-bit bus (34GB/s of bandwidth). That puts shader performance right around the same level as the 9800M GS, but with 33% less memory bandwidth. As for the CPU, we're also trying to find out more, but we suspect it will use some form of Arrandale (Core i3/i5). We'll update if we can get an answer on the CPU options.
The big surprise is that pricing is set to start at $1000, though we don't know the specifics of that configuration. We do know that the ASUS UL series (UL30Vt, UL50Vt, and UL80Vt) use CULV with G210M graphics, and they provide a good, balanced platform for under $1000 as well. The GT335M is clearly faster than the G210M (about three times as fast by our calculations), so $1000 for a GT335M with any reasonable CPU would be a great deal, as long as you like the 11.6" form factor.
Dell also announced a ton of new Inspiron laptops with Arrandale CPUs. Again, specifics are light right now, but we know there will be new Inspiron 14 (14.0"), Inspiron 15 (15.6"), and Inspiron 17 (17.3") models with Arrandale CPUs, and at present it looks like all of the Inspiron line will use the new Intel HD Arrandale IGP. Battery life with the optional 9-cell battery is targeting 7+ hours, which is also nice to see, though that will drop to around 4 hours with the standard 6-cell battery. Availability is set for later this month, with prices starting at just $570 with Core i3. The Core i5 models bump the cost up significantly, starting at $850.
The Studio line is basically an enhanced Inspiron laptop, with the goal being better styling and/or features… and a higher price. Like the Inspiron, there will be new Studio 14, 15, and 17 models. We would assume (although we have not seen any details at present) that the Studio line will give users a dedicated GPU in addition to the Arrandale IGP. Availability is again scheduled for later this month, with the Studio 14 starting at $700, the Studio 15 at $850, and the Studio 17 at $950. There should also be a new i3/i5 version of the Studio XPS laptops; Dell had a red Studio XPS 16 on display but no details on what was inside it. Studio XPS 16 with Core i5 and a Mobility Radeon 5750 would be tasty….
The Alienware M15x and M17x have also received updates, only they support Core i7 CPUs rather than Core i3/i5. The M17x looks set to be the first Core i7 notebook to ship with SLI graphics, although now the GTX 280M GPUs are nearing EOL so we expect another update to whatever NVIDIA's next high-end GPU ends up being. The current M17x supports CrossFire configurations (one of only two notebooks to support the HD 4870), so it may receive support for HD 5850 as well. We'll have to wait to find out.
Like just about every company that makes laptops, Dell also has a new Mini 10 using the Pineview Atom N450 CPU. It has similar specs to every other Pine Trail netbook we've seen.
We're still waiting to test an Adamo XPS, though it's pretty easy to tell what Adamo and Adamo XPS offer. These are CULV platforms with an increased focus on design elements. They also come with SSDs in place of conventional HDDs, either 128GB or 256GB, depending on the model. With prices starting at $1500 for the standard Adamo and $2000 for the Adamo XPS, you really need to like the design. All of the Adamo laptops are already shipping.
For an alternative thin laptop catering to business users, the Vostro line is interesting. The Vostro V13 is a Core 2 Solo design, so it sacrifices performance in going for thin and light, but it does have an anti-glare LCD. In fact, most of the Dell business laptops (Vostro in particular) come with anti-glare LCD options. Tired of glossies? Give business laptops a closer look. With their current sale, the Vostro 1320 in particular is very promising: Core 2 Duo, anti-glare, and Win7 Pro for under $600.
HP Laptops and Netbooks
Like Dell, HP is a huge OEM and has a ton of new products to announce, among them Arrandale and Pineview laptops, netbooks, and notebooks. This is a mobility focused article, so we'll stick to those areas and leave desktops, displays, printers, and other devices for another time. So far, HP's CES laptop announcements have focused on netbooks and business laptops, though looking at their web site shows some new consumer laptops as well.
The most interesting netbook option we've seen so far is the new HP Mini 210. You can already configure a system on HP's website, though it could take a few weeks for it to arrive. What makes the Mini 210 interesting? The base model Mini 210 is your typical Pine Trail netbook, and there's a business model Mini 2102 coming as well; both are black and the main difference appears to be mobile broadband support on the 2102. Yawn. What you really want is the Mini 210 HD Edition. The exciting part isn't the choice of four different colors; rather, it's the 1366x768 resolution LCD and the ability to add a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator for $35. The base price is $330, and Win7 Starter and the Broadcom chip will push the price up to $395, but you can finally get an HD capable 10.1" netbook. Add the 6-cell battery and the price ends up at $425 for around 10 hours of battery life. Our one big complaint (beyond the higher than usual price) is that HP currently only allows 1GB configurations; 2GB RAM should definitely be an option.
Next up is the consumer HP Pavilion dv4i series, a Core i5 14.1" laptop. It's available in black or white with an i5-520M (2.40GHz + 2.93GHz Turbo) or an i5-540M (2.53GHz + 3.06GHz Turbo). The base price is $800 and unfortunately the only GPU upgrade available right now is an HD 4550 - no 5000 series GPU yet. The display is 1280x800, though, so people that dislike the 1366x768 trend will be a bit happier with that (even if 1440x900 would be preferred by many). There's no word on battery life, but we expect it to be in the 3 hour range (without the HD 4550).
If you're looking for something a little more stylish and powerful then move on up to the new ENVY 15. Again, battery life is going to be around 3 hours (6 hours with the optional battery slice), but this laptop is looking more towards performance. Core i5 and i7 CPUs are available, you get 4GB (max 16GB!) of DDR3 RAM, the chassis supports dual HDDs (or an HDD + SDD arrangement), and it comes with a discrete ATI HD 5830 GPU. We'd recommend the i5 configuration, since you should then be able to use the integrated graphics for improved battery life when you're unplugged (though we haven't confirmed if the i5 IGP is enabled yet). LCD options are also available: choose between the default 1366x768 15.6" LCD, or upgrade to a 1920x1080 anti-glare display for $75 more ($100 more if you prefer glossy LCDs). With the i5-520M and 1080p anti-glare LCD, the ENVY 15 will set you back $1375 and provide a very capable gaming and HD experience.
An alternative to the typical HP Mini is the new HP Mini 5102 business class netbook. It has your typical Pineview N450 spec sheet and comes with a 10.1" 1024x600 LCD. The twist is that it has a touch-screen option and a carrying handle, along with mobile broadband support. It should be available for order in the near future.
Building off the TouchSmart tx2, the TouchSmart tm2 is a 12.1" Core 2 Duo tablet with an ATI Mobility Radeon GPU (we're not sure which one yet). It supports multi-touch and gestures, with several HP TouchSmart applications that offer enhanced UIs. Availability is scheduled for January 17, with prices starting at $950. Tablet fans should definitely keep an eye out for this one.
Finally, HP has several new business notebooks coming out. The ProBook 6440b and 6540b are 14.0" and 15.6" notebooks, respectively, with support for Core i7 CPUs and "Future Intel Core Processors". We're not sure if that means i3/i5 CPUs or upcoming mobile i7 CPUs. Both models come with 1366x768 LCDs standard, but with 1600x900 anti-glare LCDs available as an upgrade. (Hooray for non-glossy! Why is it that anti-glare is now considered a business-only option?) Both ProBook models start at $950 with availability this month.
The next step up are the HP EliteBook 8440w/8440p and 8540w/8540p. These notebooks are the workstation equivalents of the ProBook series, with a few upgrades like discrete Quadro graphics solutions. The EliteBooks use QM57 chipsets while the ProBooks use HM57, and the 8540 models provide two USB 3.0 ports and the option to go with a 1920x1080 anti-glare LCD. All four models are scheduled for release this month, with the 8440p starting at $1100, the 8440w at $1250, the 8540p at $1300, and the 8540w at $1500.
MSI's Latest Laptops
We've had MSI laptops we really liked and laptops that had an odd component combination. MSI has quite a few new laptops coming out, so hopefully they come closer to the designs we liked this time.
First up is the C series, the "Classic" MSI notebooks. These are "thin" designs that still have all the typical components you would expect, including an optical drive. MSI has three new models coming out, the CR420 (14"), CR520 (15.6"), and CR720 (17.3"), all featuring the new Core i5 processors and Windows 7. The press release states that all three models use 1366x768 LCDs, unfortunately, and we don't have details on what sort of discrete graphics are available (if any).
For mobile gamers, MSI is updating the G ("Gaming") series with the new Core i5/i7 CPUs. The 600 models are 16" LCDs while the 700 models are 17" chassis. The GT640 and GT750 both utilize Core i7 CPUs with GeForce GTS 250M graphics. The GTS 250M has 96 SPs clocked at 1250MHz, but with 128-bit RAM; GDDR5 is supported at up to 3.2GHz, but GDDR3 is also an option that would cut memory bandwidth in half, and we don't know the specifics of what MSI is using. The GX640 and GX740 in contrast use the new ATI Radeon HD 5000 series GPUs, with DX11 support, but we're not sure which specific GPUs are in use. (We'll update when we find out.) The GX models also appear to use 120Hz LCDs with "3D" support. All four GT/GX models have the traditional aluminum chassis with red trim that we've seen in previous MSI gaming notebooks. The two newcomers are the GE600 and GE700, which in contrast use "cutting-edge Color Film Print technology, touch panel keys that have undergone special color processing and a glossy decorative panel along the front edge to give them a futuristic and minimalist feel"… we're not even sure what that means. Other The GE series uses the same Radeon HD GPUs as the GX series.
Of course MSI also has some new netbooks to announce based on the Pine Trail platform. The MSI Wind U135 are 10.1" designs with 6-cell batteries, but MSI lists battery life at just 7.5 hours. We don't know how they're testing, but that's anywhere from 2.5 to 6.5 hours less than we measured with the ASUS 1005PE - hopefully MSI is using an Internet test or something similar rather than getting 7.5 hours of idle battery life. An alternative to the U135 is the new U160, which features a new chassis design and keyboard and weighs just 2.2 pounds. It comes with a gold Color Film Print finish.
Not shown is the (relatively new - it launched at the end of November 2009) 12.1" design, the Wind12 U230. The U230 builds on the design of the Wind12 U200, a CULV (Core 2 Solo in this case) offering that primarily targeted the European market. Honestly, it was too expensive, and the U230 drops CULV in favor of AMD's Athlon Neo X2 processor. Performance will be substantially higher than any Atom-based netbook, but battery life is listed as just 4 hours. The Wind12 U230 is available already, but the price is around €350, meaning this is another European laptop.
Finally, we wrap up MSI with their X-Slim series. We weren't sold on the X610 we reviewed, though the Core 2 based X600 would have tested better. MSI has several new models to announce, the 13 inch X350 and X360, 14 inch X420, 15.6" X600 Pro and X620. All five use Intel CULV processors. The X420 uses the Color Film Print technology while the rest are in more traditional X-Slim black (with some patterns to mix things up). We don't have detailed specs for most of the X series, but we know the X620 will include some form of ATI HD graphics, the X420 will include the new ATI HD 5430, and the X350 and X360 claim to deliver up to nine hours of battery life. The X360 is also the first laptop we've heard of that will use an Arrandale ULV processor. Yes, please, we want to test one ASAP!
Acer, Gateway, and Lenovo
I've gone through just three companies' worth of PR and images, and I'm only about half way through the CES laptop announcements. Rather than delay this further to sort through Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, and other companies, I'm going to wrap things up here with a few other quick blurbs. I'll see about adding the other companies I just listed in the near future. For now, here are a few last words about Acer and Gateway.
Gateway Pine Trail and CULV
Gateway sent me some images and details on a few of their new laptops. The Gateway LT21 is another 10.1" Pine Trail netbook with battery life listed as 8+ hours. It weighs 2.76 pounds and should be available shortly for around $350 MSRP. It comes in three colors, the red LT2118u, black LT2119u, and the white LT2120u.
Gateway also announced an update to their EC series, with the more interesting option being the new EC14D. It's an 11.6" laptop, but it manages to cram in an optical drive along with other standard CULV options. Pentium SU4100, 4GB DDR2, 320GB HDD, and a 1366x768 LCD are available later this month for an MSRP of $630. Meanwhile the EC58 is an alternative to the EC54 with a 15.6" LCD (still running at 1366x768). Pricing for the EC58 starts at $650.
Acer Arrandale
Like everyone else, Acer has some Arrandale (Core i3 and i5) notebooks to announce. The Aspire 5740 starts at just $750 with a Core i5-430M (2.26GHz + 2.53GHz Turbo). That's not the fastest Core i5 CPU by any stretch, but it will compete very well against older Core 2 Duo processors. The 5740 has a 15.6" 1366x768 LCD, 4GB DDR3-1066 RAM, 500GB 5400RPM HDD, 8X DVDR, and all the other usual features like Acer 802.11n WiFi. It also includes an ATI HD 5650 GPU for decent gaming performance, with the all-important ability to switch to integrated graphics in order to cut power and improve battery life. Weight is just over 6 pounds and battery life is listed as up to 4 hours - not a lot, but it's good for a 15.6" laptop that provides good performance.
The Aspire 7740 is a larger 17.3" chassis that is also priced at $750, but with some changes in the components. It uses a Core i3-330M CPU (2.13GHz and no Turbo), and it drops the discrete graphics on the base model. In contrast it adds a 1600x900 LCD and a Blu-ray drive, along with Intel WiFi 1000 networking. It weighs just over 7 pounds with battery life of up to 3.5 hours. Other models of the 5740 and 7740 will have different components and pricing, naturally.
Lenovo - More to Come!
We close with some parting shots from Lenovo. We already discussed some of the new ThinkPad designs from Lenovo (included in the above gallery are a few new images), and Lenovo isn't through with interesting new concepts. Lenovo announced on Wednesday the first hybrid laptop for consumers, the IdeaPad U1. What's a hybrid laptop? At first blush it looks like a tablet PC, but the catch is that it has two complete CPUs/OSes. The screen contains a Qualcomm Snapdragon ARM processor, and you can remove the display from the rest of the chassis and carry it around. The OS for the tablet is Lenovo's customized Skylight OS (which will also appear in the Lenovo Skylight 2 lbs. alternative netbook this spring), and it synchronizes with the Win7 OS on the main body when connected. Battery life for the tablet portion is listed at 5 hours for 3G Web browsing or up to 10 hours when idle. The IdeaPad U1 will be available in the summer.