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Anything interest you from CES 2013 this week?

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imageI browsed the articles and stories throughout the week, but I was pretty surprised at the stuff that didn’t interest me. I guess I expected more laptop news but there just wasn’t much on that front.  My biggest surprise was the new Ultrabook™ specifications for Intel Haswell based ultrabooks.  Apparently they now require a touch screen.  I’m not sure how I feel about that yet.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see how the requirement impacts screen quality. 

Like last year, Samsung decided to make some interesting product announcements.  They of course rolled out some fascinating HDTV’s, but once again they announced some new laptop designs.  Here’s the new Samsung Series 7 Ultra.

The screen on this model is a 1920x1080 resolution screen and apparently they will have touch and non touch models.  The touch model is listed as 1.65kg which puts it at 3.6 pounds. The Series 7 Ultra is over a pound heavier than my Series 9. 

See the rest of the specs at https://samsung2013ces.com/ces-photos/series-7-ultra-unveiled/. Looks like a hot new seller for Samsung.

Then there’s the refreshed Samsung Series 7 Chronos.  This 15.6” bad boy is packed with technology. The new Chronos is sporting a 1920x1080 resolution touch screen, higher end graphics card, up to 16GB of RAM and a 1TB HDD if desired. 

In order to accommodate all of the tech, the Chronos is slightly thicker and weighs in at 2.35kg or 5.1 pounds.  That seems to be pushing the “ultrabook” envelope if you ask me, but I haven’t read the details in Intel’s logo program.

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As you can see in the picture above, the Samsung Series 7 Chronos is similar to the Ultra in appearance. I have a feeling this machine is going to be popular with the folks looking for a machine with more muscle.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the options and prices are.  It shouldn’t be too long.  It appears Samsung is trying to get their new machine in the channel in the first half of 2013.

There was also a mention in the Samsung press conference about the Series 9 machines.  The executive on stage said the Series 9 would also be getting the 1080p screens.  That got my attention.

Anyone else see something noteworthy in the announcements from this week?

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 12, 2013
    The Lenovo Helix really did it for me. I'd been pretty set on a Surface Pro until this week, but the Helix fixes my two biggest complaints about that - the lack of inbuilt WWAN connectivity and the acceptable-but-not-amazing battery life. As soon as Lenovo starts taking orders, they'll have mine!

  • Anonymous
    January 12, 2013
    I need to see the Helix before I buy.

  • Anonymous
    January 12, 2013
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 12, 2013
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 13, 2013
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 13, 2013
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 14, 2013
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 14, 2013
    The biggest issue I see with the 15" Retina MacBook Pro is a slight performance hit when running OS X at the highest scaled resolution. You feel it mostly in applications you need to scroll in. Painting that screen with all those pixels takes some horsepower. Don't even think about bootcamp right now.  Apple has not released a bootcamp version for the rMBP which seems a bit late (and odd) at this point. Windows 7 and Windows 8 run very nicely in VMWare Fusion 5.x. I have not tried Parallels or Oracle VirtualBox on the latest Macs. If you are going to buy a Mac, plan on buying Fusion.  The upside is that OS X will still handle power management and thermals nicely.  The downside is that you are running in a VM but you can hardly tell full screen. The Windows PCs on the market running Windows 7 or Windows 8 are simply faster. My Samsung Series 9 NP900X3D-A02US is very efficient and runs Windows 8 excellent. It runs Windows 8 better that the Retina Mac runs OS X in my opinion. It also runs Windows 8 better than Windows 7. I would continue saving your pennies and wait for the new machines to arrive this quarter. If nothing floats your boat, then the Haswell based machine will likely be out late Q2 or early Q3. And cut down on the Doritos. :-)