Vaio Z with Core i7: Another Small Wonder
February 4th, 2010
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It seems that good things do come in small packages every now and then. At CES we saw the release of the smallest gaming laptop yet – the 11-inch Alienware m11x. The 13-inch, 3.2-pound VAIO Z is obviously larger, but makes up for it by packing the most powerful 32nm processor yet, the Intel Core i7 620M, an Nvidia GeForce GT 330M and no less than four (yes 4) SSDs in RAID0. Read more…
Categories: Laptops
One of the weirdest and most positively surprising gadgets to come out of CES this year just has to be the world’s first 11-inch gaming laptop, the Alienware m11x. So far we’ve been used to full-size desktop replacements, usually in the 17-inch category or larger, only occasionally dipping into 15-inch territory. 
Acer was first to hit the market with 3D-enhanced laptops, and judging from some early tryouts it appears that it’s working. At least as well as you’d expect, which really doesn’t say a lot. I’m sure that like myself, you fondly remember the first time you put on those geeky-looking red and green specs and endured the nauseous experience of watching an entire movie while twitching in your seat to try and stave off he vertigo. 
According to the latest press release, Lenovo is about to offer its first consumer laptop based on the new Core i7 platform and Windows 7. It also gets updated with a decent GT240M graphics card from Nvidia. 
It looks like the first benchmark for DirectX 11 has arrived. Unigine Corp. has released demo/benchmark tool called Heaven that runs in all Direct X 9, 10 and 11 modes. Unfortunately, to be able to see the new and improved DX11 features you’ll need a compatible video card, and there aren’t many of those around yet. 
Intel apparently delayed the launch of its Core i7 for laptops to oblige manufacturers who weren’t doing well in the current economy. However, now several new and exciting notebooks based on the new platform are starting to trickle out, and just in time for Windows 7. 
HP is pretty shameless with its new Envy series – both the 13-inch Envy 13 and the 15.6-inch Envy 15 look surprisingly similar to a certain Apple laptop. On the other hand that’s the equivalent of really attractive. And it’s quite pimped on the inside, too. 
The Alienware m15x is back, and this time it’s packing the latest Core i7 mobile processor from Intel. Dell releasing the new Alienware coincides exactly with the launch of Intel’s new mobile CPU lineup, making the m15x one of the first laptops based on the platform. 
With a Quad-Core Intel Core 2 Duo, dual Nvidia GTX 280M/ATI Mobility Radeon 4870 GPUs running side by side in SLI configuration, dual hard drives (or SSDs) in RAID0, and up to 8 gigs of 1366MHz DDR3 RAM modules, the new Alienware m17x is not only the laptop with the most acronyms, but also the most powerful gaming laptop in the world. 
Locating a gaming laptop that suits your needs and wallet is a lot easier now than it was a few years ago. Mobile technology is rapidly becoming smaller and more efficient at the same time, and the best part is that prices are dropping too.