Compared to the original ThinkPad X1 laptop the new X1 Carbon offers up a brand new design that is considerably thinner and lighter, and uses a new material carbon fiber. The new X1 Carbon also offers Lenovo fans access to Intel’s new 3rd generation Ivy Bridge processors.

The thinnest 14-inch Ultrabook in the world

According to Lenovo the new X1 Carbon Ultrabook weights just 3.0 pounds and measures about 18mm or 0.71 inches thick. The first X1 laptop weighted in at 3.7 pounds and measured approx. 0.84 inches thick.

Lenovo was able to cut weight and create an all around thinner machine by not only changing the laptops designs but by also adding carbon fiber to the mix. Carbon fiber is a very strong and very light material that some laptop makers have started to make use of in their machines, although carbon fiber is most commonly found in high-performance automobiles at this time.

Lenovo was able to create a thinner machine that also offers a larger display as well. The original X1 laptop offered users a 13.3-inch 1366 x 768 resolution screen and the new X1 Carbon has a 14-inch 1600×900 resolution screen. The bezel, although I don’t have exact measurements, seems that have shrunken down considerably on the new X1 Carbon compared to the original X1 laptop.

Features, price, release details

The X1 Carbon will feature Ivy Bridge processors as mentioned above, but that’s not all that Lenovo has brought to the table with their new business Ultrabook.

The X1 Carbon will also be equipped with a built-in 3G radio for accessing the Internet just about anywhere around the world that has 3G. Built-in 3G is a good feature for the traveling business person, a Wi-Fi connection isn’t always guaranteed away from home and the office.

Lenovo is including their Rapid Charge battery technology which allows for your X1 Carbon to charge its battery up to 80% capacity in just 35 minutes. The original X1 laptop also had the option for adding a battery life extending sheet to the bottom of the laptop, but right now Lenovo isn’t showing any battery sheets for the X1 Carbon. Battery life for the X1 Carbon isn’t being announced at this time.

Pricing hasn’t been announced at this time for the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. However Lenovo has revealed they plan to launch the laptop for sale this Summer. The original ThinkPad X1 laptop launched last year with prices starting at $1,349, I think it would be reasonable to assume the updated model would also be around that price from the start –currently prices have fallen for the X1 due mainly to the fact a new model is on the way.

[Via]

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HP ENVY Ultrabook in Midnight Black with Red accents. Image: HP

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has started to offer some of their latest portable laptop computers to consumers on a modest budget. This week HP launched the new 14.0-inch HP ENVY Sleekbook and 15.6-inch HP ENVY Ultrabook on their website. The Sleekbook starts at $699 and the Ultrabook starts at $799.

Both laptops run on Intel’s outgoing 2nd generation Core i3 and Core i5 dual-core Sandy Bridge processors, not the new 3rd generation Ivy Bridge 22nm processors Intel launched a few weeks ago. However the designs and some of the other features included with the 14″ Sleek and 15.6″ Ultrabook are brand new.

The full model name for the 14″ model is HP ENVY Sleekbook 4t-1000 and the full model name for the 15.6″ model is HP ENVY Ultrabook 6t-1000. Down below you can check out the main features for the base $699 and $799 configurations for both of these new HP laptop computers.

HP ENVY Sleekbook 4t-1000 features:

• Midnight Black
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 System Memory (1 Dimm)
• 500GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
• 2nd generation Intel Core i3-2367M Processor (1.4 GHz) + Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery – Up to 8.0 hours of battery life
• 14.0″ diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit Display (1366 x 768)
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam with integrated dual array digital microphone
• Beats audio, 4 speakers
• HDMI, 3x USB, SD card reader, Ethernet (RJ-45), and a headphone jack.
• 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• Standard Keyboard with Backlight
• Thin (19.8 mm) and light (1.75 kg) without compromising performance or connectivity; metal design with soft-touch base, Beats audio

HP ENVY Ultrabook 6t-1000 features:

• Midnight Black
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 2nd generation Intel Core i5-2467M Processor (1.6 GHz) + Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 System Memory (1 Dimm)
• 500GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
• 32GB mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
• 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery – Up to 8.25 hours of battery life
• 15.6″ diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit Display (1366×768)
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam with integrated dual array digital microphone
• Beats Audio; 4 speakers
• HDMI, 3x USB, SD card reader, Ethernet (RJ-45), and a headphone jack.
• 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• Standard Keyboard with Backlight
• Thin (19.8 mm) metal design with soft-touch base

It’s worth noting that with each of these laptops you don’t get a built-in optical drive. Which means if you want to install a program of a CD, burn media to a CD/DVD or play any optical media based games you’ll need to purchase an external optical drive on your own. The Sleekbook and Ultrabook type laptops aren’t normally going to include a optical drive because their designed to be slim and light machines,  optical drives often add to much added thickness and weight.

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During the event HP didn’t leave any major demographic of their customers without something new to look forward to this Summer. HP unveiled new laptops that offers prices, features, and designs that meet the needs of just about any laptop shopper out there. If you’re looking for an affordable $500 laptop, HP has you covered, if you’re looking for something more expensive (and more luxurious) the are as well.

Something for the mainstream consumer

For their the bulk of the PC buying community HP revealed multiple models that offered mainstream features. In total HP announced eight new models that will be hitting the market this Summer. Thankfully within the eight new models there is a nice mix of screen sizes, affordable and luxury models, as well as AMD and Intel based models.

The more affordable options include the newly updated HP Pavilion dv4 (14-inch) and dv6 (15.6-inch) which will start at $550, the redesigned HP Pavilion g6 (15.6-inch) and g7 (17.3-inch) which will start at $450 and $500, and finally there will be a 15.6-inch Ultrabook-like laptop available this Summer from HP that is named HP Envy Sleekbook which will start at $600.

Other more luxurious/expensive laptops that are also going to be available include the updated HP Pavilion dv7 (17-inch) which will start at $800, the 14-inch HP ENVY Sleekbook that will start at $700, the 14-inch HP ENVY Ultrabook which will start at $750, the 15.6-inch HP ENVY Ultrabook which will start at $800, and finally the 13.3-inch HP Envy Spectre XT Ultrabook which starts at $1,000.

In addition to the models just mentioned there will be a totally new 15.6-inch laptop named HP Pavilion m6 released this Summer at major retailers, but right now there is no price available for us to report.

Something for the business professional

For their business customers HP also introduced a healthy amount of updated notebooks. New models will be available for the legendary Elitebook line and the lower-cost Probook line. All of the new models are successors to pre-existing Elitebook or Probook models, the main updates for the new models include new refreshed designs and new internal hardware.

The new Elitebook laptops will include the 14-inch HP EliteBook Folio 9470m Ultrabook, 11.6-inch HP EliteBook 2170p ultra-portable (the thinnest and lightest HP business notebook), 12.5-inch HP EliteBook 2570p ultra-portable with an optical drive and optional 4G mobile broadband, 14-inch HP EliteBook 8470p and 15.6-inch HP EliteBook 8570p offer up to 36 hours of battery life with an optional battery extender. All of the Elitebook models feature Intel’s just launched Third Generation Ivy Bridge processors.

HP’s new Probook laptops will include the 14-inch HP ProBook 6470b, 15.6-inch HP ProBook 6570b, 14.6-inch HP ProBook 6475b, and the 13.3- to 17.3-inch HP Probook s-series. With the new Probook’s you’ll be able to get AMD or Intel based systems and you’ll find business features like hard drive protection from drops and videoconferencing software.

HP will launch most of the Elitebook and Probook laptops during the months of June and July, but the new Elitebook Ultrabook (HP EliteBook Folio 9470m) will be released in October.

As for pricing HP plans to start the HP EliteBook 2170p at $999, HP EliteBook 2570p at $1,099, HP EliteBook 8470p and 8570p at $899, HP ProBook 6470b and 6570b at $769, HP Probook 6475b at $669, and the HP Probook s-series starts at $589.

New faces for business users

HP is updating their already established Elitebook and Probook business notebook lines, but they are also add two new professional class notebooks to their business line-up. The two brand new models include the HP Spectre XT Pro Ultrabook and HP ENVY Pro Ultrabook. Both notebooks offer premium styling, Windows 7 Professional, and Intel’s new Ivy Bridge processors. HP plans to release the ENVY Pro and Spectre XT Pro in June. The ENVY Pro will start at $849 and the Spectre XT Pro at $1,049.

[HP 1, 2]

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The 11.6-inch Acer Aspire One 725 is the new laptop and it’s only the latest 11.6-inch machine that Acer has released for their Aspire One line. With the new Aspire One 725 the folks at Acer have included the dual-core 1.0GHz (1.3GHz Turbo Core) AMD C-60 and AMD Radeon HD 6290 graphics. The C-60 isn’t the highest performing chip that AMD currently offers with their Accelerated Processing Unit (APU)’s, but it is their fastest power efficient APU’s which should work in users favor if they want better battery life.

Some precise specifications available at this time for the Acer Aspire One 725 include a 11.6-inch 1366×768 resolution LED back-lit LCD, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 320GB/500GB hard disk storage space, integrated HD webcam, and an HDMI port. The laptop is going to be just 1-inch thick and it will weight 1.2kg. or about 2.6 pounds. Acer will be releasing this model in two color options a Caribbean blue (pictured) and Volcanic black.

Right now Acer is saying the new Aspire One 725 laptop will be available for purchase in the European market this July for 359 Euros starting out (base price). There is no release schedule/price for the North American market, but that should come soon enough, Acer has released all of their previous Aspire One machines in the North American market no real reason for them to stop now.

Old edition still available

The slightly older alternative to the new Aspire One 725, if you still want an Acer ultra-portable, is the 11.6-inch Acer Aspire One 722. The Aspire One 722 is available for purchase in most markets around the globe right now and it does share a couple of features with the new 725. The 722 and 725 both offer the same 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 resolution LED back-lit screen, the same 1.0GHz dual-core AMD C-60 APU with AMD Radeon HD 6290 graphics, and the hard drive options (320GB/500GB hard disk) are also the same.

Right now in the U.S. you can acquire a 11.6-inch Aspire One 722 laptop for $329.99 and it will include the AMD C-60, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a 320GB hard drive, HDMI port, and up to 7 hours of battery life to name a few things. Honestly if you don’t want to wait for the 725 to be released the 722 should suffice, but it’s worth noting the new 725 is going to be more than half a pound lighter than the old 722 which weights 3.21 pounds.

[Acer] [Via]

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Right now the free processor upgrade seems to be available to all buyers in the United States who recently placed an order for either the Alienware M14x, M17x or M18x. If you fit that description and you haven’t had your order shipped yet then you should expect your new gaming laptop to arrive soon with Ivy Bridge inside instead of Sandy Bridge.

The upgrade swaps out the now old 2nd generation Sandy Bridge processors from Intel in favor of shiny new Ivy Bridge chips. Alienware currently has one dual-core Core i5 3rd gen. CPU along with a handful of quad-core Core i7 3rd gen. CPU’s available for their gaming laptop customers. Alienware says that they’ll trade out 2nd gen. chips with comparably-priced 3rd gen.

Alienware launched the Ivy Bridge based Alienware M14x (R2), M17x (R4) and M18x (R2) gaming laptops for customer orders just this week ending.

In case you missed the launch post the Ivy Bridge based Alienware M14x starts at $1,099, the Ivy M17x at $1,499 and the Ivy M18x starts at $1,999. You can make an order, learn more or simply lust after the entire Alienware fleet on Alienware.com.

[Via 1, 2]

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