The Next Wave: Convertible, Touchscreen Ultrabooks And Tablets

The Next Wave: Convertible, Touchscreen Ultrabooks And Tablets


Over the next few weeks, you’re going to hear a lot of noise about hybrid laptop/tablets and touchscreen ultrabooks running Windows 8. So what will your next portable computer be? Let’s take a look at what’s coming soon from big brands like Sony, Samsung, Asus, Acer, Toshiba, Dell, HP and Lenovo…

Microsoft Surface Just Made The MacBook Air And The iPad Look Obsolete

Microsoft has guts. It’s what you get when you’re the underdog. Either that or you curl into an RIM-shaped ball and die. Microsoft is the underdog because no matter how many hundreds of millions of people use its software, the cool and the future belong to Apple. Or belonged, perhaps
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Sony Vaio Duo 11 Should Give The Surface Plenty Of Competition

Sony has a new transformer tablet/laptop hybrid, the Vaio Duo 11, which is a sliding converter with a stylus. It looks pretty darn good. The Duo 11 has an 11.6-inch “full HD” touchscreen (16:9, 1080p) and will have current-gen Intel Core Ivy Bridge processors.

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Samsung’s New Windows 8 Hybrid Tablets Look Like Galaxy Notes With Keyboards

Samsung is really set on making this stylus thing work. The new Series 5 and Series 7 Slate PCs look pretty good — the versions we saw last week weren’t final — but they might have a little catching up to do as well.
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HP Envy X2: This Windows 8 Hybrid Tablet Can Adapt To Any Circumstance

Just as Samsung unveiled a hybrid tablet that docks into a keyboard, HP is doing the same with their 11.6-inch Envy X2. And just like Samsung’s Series 5 model, the Envy X2 will come complete with a dual-core Intel Atom Z2760 chipset, two gigabytes of RAM, and 64 gigabytes of storage space. But what’s most impressive is how normal it feels as either a laptop or a tablet
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Asus Taichi: Ultrabook In Front, Tablet In The Back

For those who can’t decide between an ultrabook’s handy QWERTY keyboard, and a slim tablet’s touchscreen UI, Asus has just revealed a hybrid, double-duty display solution. Wait a second: Business in front, party in the back? That sounds awfully familiar.
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Dell’s XPS Duo 12 Might Have The Best Laptop Of The Hybrid Combinations

Over the next few weeks, you’re going to hear a lot of noise from manufacturers about how one hybrid product or another gives you all of the benefits of a laptop and a tablet with no compromises on design. The Dell XPS Duo 12 is one of the few that actually seems to back that up.
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Acer’s Got An Awesome-Looking New 11-inch Touchscreen Ultrabook

While other manufacturers spew out Windows 8 hybrids, Acer is going against the tide with its new Aspire S7 ultrabook. The new 11-inch laptop is the apparent semi-successor to the Aspire S5, and it looks like it could be a winner.
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Toshiba Windows 8 Hybrid Laptop Hands-On: Better Than Expected

Toshiba is turning heads with its new Satellite U925T, a 12.5-inch Windows 8 hybrid laptop/tablet. It has the same design as the weird but endearing U845W ultrabook, although it’s not a super-wide 21:9 ratio.
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Dell’s XPS 10 Tablet Is What A Laptop/Tablet Hybrid Is Supposed To Look Like

There are a lot of hybrid tablets coming out this year. But while the ones we’ve seen seem to be splitting the difference, Dell seems to be focusing on the best parts of either laptop or tablet. Its XPS 10 is the tablet end of that bargain.
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HP’s Spectre XT Touchsmart Has A Screen So Beautiful, You Can’t Help But Touch It

The idea of a touchscreen shoehorned into a traditional laptop form factor still seems a bit strange, but like it or not, they’re coming. And as such, HP’s Spectre XT Touchsmart is a pretty good way of doing it if it has to be done. Instead of using some cheap display panel, the company opted for a 15.6-inch bonded IPS panel, ensuring a screen that’s as responsive as it is vibrant.
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Sony Xperia Tablet S Hands-On: Few Quirks, Solid Improvements

It has been exactly a year since the original Sony Tablet S debuted. It was unique and a lot better than the Tablet P, but it didn’t win many hearts. Sony’s new Tablet S comes with the Xperia moniker and improves on its predecessor.
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Samsung’s New 10.1-Inch Windows 8 Tablet Challenges The Microsoft Surface

While some PC makers are nervous about building hardware for Windows RT, Samsung is going straight in for the kill with its newly announced Samsung Ativ Tab. Will it be enough to steer people away from Microsoft Surface?
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Asus Vivo Tab RT Playing Unreal Engine 3 Game: Epic Citadel


For all we know about Microsoft Surface, questions still abound. Nvidia appears to have answered one of them emphatically today though: Windows 8 games are going to look absolutely sick. See for yourself.
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Lenovo Has A Convertible Tablet, Too

As predicted, it’s the year of convertibles at IFA 2012. Lenovo is the latest contender to throw its hat in the ring, announcing — among other things — the Ideatab S2110 convertible tablet that boasts an insane 20-hour battery life.
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Archos GamePad For Android Gamers Tired Of Playing On Touchscreens

We were less than impressed with Archos’ last attempt to provide Android users with a hardware alternative to a touchscreen interface. Its Gen10 XS tablet packed a nifty keyboard/cover combo, but everything else was downhill from there. So maybe the company has learned from its mistakes and can deliver a solid handheld gaming experience with its just announced Android GamePad.
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Samsung’s Crazy QHD Series 9 Ultrabook Can’t Get Here Fast Enough

Samsung is showing a 13-inch Series 9 ultrabook at IFA with a qHD 2560 x 1440 display. It’s only a prototype, but here is the only reasonable reaction to that bit of news: Hell yes.
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Samsung’s First Windows 8 Touch Laptop Is Cheaper Than You’d Expect


Samsung’s new Series 5 Ultra laptop doesn’t look like anything special. But that’s the whole point — it’s for people not looking for anything too out of the ordinary, in terms of both specs and price.
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What Will You Do With A Touchscreen Ultrabook?

I didn’t like the idea of touchscreen ultrabooks when the rumours first popped up, and now that they’ve arrived en masse, I still don’t like ‘em. Sure, the product itself is fine, and they work as they’re supposed to, but the concept is just no good.
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New Backlit Keyboard Case Brings A Rainbow Rave To Your iPad

If you wish your iPad had a keyboard and frequent dark rooms, ZAGG has a case that might be up your alley. Its new iPad keyboard is not only backlit, but also changes colours. Take that, Surface.
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