Hot Hardware have ran the brand spanking new Intel E8500 Core 2 Duo through its paces. They liked the chip, saying “If you’re a gamer, the Core 2 Duo E8500 will deliver better performance compared to a low-end quad-core.” The things they didn’t like were mainly price related, which is fair enough for a brand new processor from Intel. If you wanted a budget Core 2 Duo, look at the 6 series. If you want kick arse you can’t go past the E8500 (unless you can afford the E8650).
For the complete review, click over to Hot Hardware.
We had a little view of the M1730 before its recent release and now we have gotten wind of another new notebook for the ever growing XPS range of Dell’s. This will be a little smaller and a hell of a lot lighter then the 1730, with a 15-4-inch screen and slot loading DVD/Blu-Ray Drive.
Unfortunately this model won’t support dual video processors, but it will come with a choice of 2 decent nVidia’s as long as you don’t expect to play to many new games on them. The choices will be either a GeForce 8400M or 8600M GS with up to 256MB of video ram.
Otherwise it is standard affair with a 15.4-inch screen with either a CCFL up to 1680 x 1050 or LED up to 1440 x 900, Intel Core 2 Duo 1.5 - 2.6 GHz (T5250 to T7800), options for 802.11a/b/g/n, WWAN, Bluetooth, finger print reader, built-in webcam and a HDMI port (I will report this until it is standard). It will apparently weigh 4 pounds, but will wait for final word before seeing that as feasible in such a feature rich notebook. No price yet, but should be announced on November 7th.
For more info, travel over to the Engadget Blog.
Hot on the heals of the new of the Dell XPS SLi notebook, we have the news of the two new Toshiba X205 notebooks. There are 2 models on the table currently, with X205-SLI1 and X205-SLI3 both running dual Nvidia 8600M GT’s (a little less powerful then the 8700’s in the Dell).
As well as the dual video card goodness you also get a Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 (SLi1) to T7500 (SLi3), 2GB DDR2 RAM, 17-inch WXGA+ (SLi1) or WSXGA+ (SLi3), 240GB to 320GB, HD DVD-ROM/DVD SuperMulti, Bluetooth® V2.0 + EDR, wireless 802.11a/g/n and HDMI output port. All this can be your for between $US1999 and $US2499, making it cheaper then the Dell as well.
This is a definate desktop replacement, weighing in at a heavy 9.37 lbs. You won’t be carrying this guy very far, unless you are Heman. Unfortunately they still have that stupid numpad that makes the keyboard tiny. If you are still interested, then you can already order it from the Toshiba website.
For direct links to the notebooks, click here for the SL1 and here for the SL3.
I was never a fan of the Macbook style N series Sony Vaio. It was cheap, but the build felt cheap to pickup and everyone could tell who they were trying to copy. Thank god Sony reconsidered and have updated the series to be the new NR series.
Inside you can expect the same old for a budget focused notebook. From the 15.4-inch WXGA display, a 1.5GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB 5,400 rpm SATA hard drive, to the onboard video card and lack of Wireless N (and Blu-ray). What would you expect to pay for a budget system of this type? How does $US750 sound? At that price point, this is the cheapest Vaio ever.
For that price you also get a sleeker designed Vaio, looking a lot classier then the N series of old (plus what looks like a fabric covered lid). If this is your piece of mud cake, then you can grab your very own sometime in October.
For more info, project yourself over to the InfoSync Website. Or click here for the press release.
For older readers of this site (before the refresh) you will know I am a huge Vaio fanboy. Matter of fact I am writing this article on one of the first 13.3-inchers released in Australia (cost $4,000). So I am very happy to announce a few range refreshers from Sony, which include a G2 replacement, an update to the desktop replacement’s titled the L series and a big fat AR series notebook.
The G2 is an ultralight, with a 12.1-inch display and low power processor. The changes between this model and the previous are the two choices of the new Intel low power processors (U7600 and U7500), choice of 3 different SSD’s (32/48/64GB) as well as a few normal HDD’s, and lastly the choice of 3 colours. No prices as yet, but expect the SSD driven variants to be a little pricier then standard HDD. The release date is set in October for Japan only.
The L series desktop replacement is a sort of iMac competitor (better in my opinion). Previously the L series “The Panel PC” was only a 15.4-inch (in Australia anyway), but the new series includes a 15.4-inch (LJ with 1280 x 800 resolution), 19-inch (LM with 1440 x 900 resolution) and 22-inch (LT with 1680 × 1050 resolution) version. Also included in the package is a range of Intel Core 2 Duo CPU’s and a NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT video card. They will range in 3 different colours, which are silver, black and pink (very metro). Release date is set as October the 6th and the pricing will start at $US1478 for the baby, all the way up to $3218 for the big daddy.
Finally we have the sexy 17-incher from Sony. The AR600 will be the replacement for the now aging AR500 series. Upgrades include 8400M GT or 8600M GT NVIDIA video card’s, Core 2 Duo T7250 or T7500 processors and a sweet Blu-ray and CableCard mix. They are expected to be seen around October the 2nd and will range in price from $US1,700 to $US3,300.
For more info, steal a plane and fly over to Gizmodo’s Blog, Engadget’s Blog and Akihabara News Site.