HP Pavilion tx2500z Reviews (LAPTOP Magazine, Tablet PC Rreview)
June 30, 2008
A couple of reviews of the 12.1-inch AMD-powered HP Pavilion tx2500z series, were published last friday.
The tx2500z series is the replacement of the popular HP Pavilion tx2000z. It’s just starting to appear at online stores ($1050 after rebate at Amazon.com , etc.). It’s a “convertible”, that is, it has a touchscreen display that swivels around and lays across the keyboard, allowing it to be converted and used either as a conventional laptop or as a dedicated Tablet PC.
TabletPCReview.com has a user review of the same tx2510us linked above at Amazon, and that is available for around the same price at Circuit City (in the US, if you want to see one in person, although not all stores have them). the tx2510us has an AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-80 CPU (2.1GHz, 2MB L2), 3GB Memory, 250GB Hard Drive, an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 graphics chipset, the dual active/passive digitizer, and it’s running Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit Edition. As “Rex Orbis2″ notes in his review, there were same impressive gains made over the tx2000z series, with the addition of the new AMD Puma platform. As they point out, it is geared towards consumers and multimedia enthusiasts and even digital media (it comes with a remote control for media playback).
The LAPTOP Magazine review gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars, with comments about the washed out display look (due to the fact, as noted in the TabletPCReview, that it has a dual-mode display - both an active and passive digitizer), although it is accurate, whether it’s in active or passive modes.
Read:
- LAPTOP Magazine
- TabletPCReview.com
Fujitsu LifeBook T5010 Leaked
June 17, 2008
More and more information is being found about the Fujitsu LifeBook T5010 (which was apparently leaked through a Virginia Tech bookstore website).
It’s a “convertible” Tablet PC / laptop (the LED-backlist display swivels around and lays down on the keyboard, turning it into a Tablet PC). Although it has a 13.3-inch widescreen display, it looks like it’s positioned to replace the Fujitsu LifeBook T4220 as the measurements and weight are fairly close.
Features:
- LED-Backlit Display
- Active Digitizer
- Intel Core 2 Duo 45nm CPU
- 2GB of DDR3 Memory running at 1066MHz
- Wireless - 802.11n functionality
- Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR
Measurements:
Width: 12.5 inches / 317.5 mm
Depth: 9.6 inches / 243.8 mm
Height: 1.4 inches / 35.6 mm
Weight: 4.4 pounds / 2 kg
Based on the bookstore website, it looks to be available sometime in July or August and at least for educational students, is priced at around $2000 USD.
Sources: - Virginia Tech Bookstore
- GottaBeMobile.com also has some information.
Thanks to Dan and Khanj for e-mailing this.
Announced: HP Pavilion tx2500z
June 10, 2008
Today, HP announced the HP Pavilion tx2500z, the sequel to the HP Pavilion tx2000z series.
It’s HP’s first 12.1-inch “convertible” laptop that’s based on AMD’s new Puma platform for mobile computing. In addition to dual-core AMD CPUs (up to 2.4GHz), it offers up to 4GB of memory, along with Windows Vista 32-bit or 64-bit versions with Service Pack 1 (depends on Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate).
Features:
- “Convertible” - Display twists around and lays across keyboard, forming a Tablet PC with digitizer
- High-gloss black case with “Echo” pattern inlaid.
- “HP QuickPlay” - fast starts movies, music, with a mobile TV module for internet TV streaming. Mini-Remote stores in ExpressCard slot.
Updates over HP Pavilion tx2000z models:
- Updated CPU
- Updated Windows Vista options
- Upgraded graphics (ATI Radeon HD 3200)
- Upgraded harddrive options (up to 320GB 5400rpm)
It is available in the US started at $1049 through HP’s Notebook Offers section in their online store.
Gigabyte M912 Netbook at Computex
June 1, 2008
The details about the Gigabyte M912, aka the Gigabyte M912 Netbook, have finally started to come out, complete with an official product page (it had been a few months since we had heard anything significant). Of note, Gigabyte referred to it as a Netbook (I’m just pointing that out, as someday we may resolve the whole netbook / sub-notebook debate). More details will be released this week at Computex.
This 8.9-inch Intel Atom-powered convertible is going to turn a lot of heads and is going to shake up a small segment of the ultraportable laptop market.
I’m not talking about the netbook / sub-notebook segment of the ultraportable market - I’m talking about the segment that Fujitsu has pretty much had to itself - the under 10-inch “convertible” segment (aka the display rotates and lays flat and allows you to use it either as a notebook or as a Tablet PC). The Gigabyte M912 has a 1280×800 touchscreen display with LED backlighting. Folks, this is pretty close to the Fujitsu LifeBook P1620. This could pass for a low-cost P1620 aimed at the netbook market, but the P1620 is quite a bit more expensive (expensive enought to price itself out of the netbook market).
In addition to the other specifications we knew about, here is some additional information:
Read more
Apple Tablets This Fall? Finally?
May 24, 2008
If Jason O’Grady’s source is correct, Apple could be rolling out Mac OS X-based tablets this fall, in a 12-inch or 13-inch form factor.
Over at The Apple Core/ZDNet, Jason writes about a source mentions a tablet being rolled out Most likely in the September or October time frame. It will run the full Mac OS X and have a slot loading SuperDrive, an “iPhone-type” GPS chip and an Intel Core Duo processor, presumably Intel’s Atom.
He makes some good points:
- Intel’s Germany CEO claimed that some kind of iPhone would be powered by Intel’s Atom CPU (the Atom would be too big for current iPhones).
- Apple has pretty extensive handwriting experience (going back to the Apple Newton) plus OS X has had a lot of touchscreen integration (and the iPhone has increased the knowledge base when it comes to OS X and touchscreen software and how people interact with touchscreens in general.
- Apple has patented a lot of tablet designs going back over a decade, as well as various touchscreen interface designs and concepts (some of which made it into the iPhone, some of which didn’t).
I disagree with his source on two key areas:
1) A 12-inch or 13-inch Mac better have something more powerful than an Intel Atom. There is a reason why Apple moved away from Intel’s Core Solo (yes, financially it made sense, but just as important, if not more so, Dual-Core CPUs made much more sense with Mac OS X, especially with the whole “Mac experience”). The Intel Atom that we are seeing in upcoming netbooks / sub-notebook is not impressing people with its Windows Vista performance, and while Mac OS X may scale down a lot better than Vista, something this large (12″ or 13″) had better have performance that comes close to a low-end MacBook, otherwise the critics will lambast Apple (what am I saying, they’ll do it anyways). A more fitting CPU would be something like what’s in the MacBook Air or the Lenovo ThinkPad X300. Sure, Intel has done custom CPU runs for Apple, and they could do so here, but in this case it would be scaling up a CPU in perfomance, rather than taking an existing CPU and scaling it down (ala the MacBook Air).
2) A SuperDrive? No. Apple and Steve Jobs just convinced us that with the introduction of the MacBook Air, an integrated optical drive is not needed in such ultraportable devices - Apple sells an add-on USB-powered optical drive, as well as making software available that allows you to use optical drives in other machines. A SuperDrive adds too much overhead to such a device, both in terms of power requirements and more importantly, physical space requirements.
Do I think Apple will introduce a touchscreen/Tablet at some (i.e. something bigger than the iPhone), sure. I would even go so far as to say it could hit the 8.9-inch or 10-inch form factor (in which case a more powerful Intel Atom would make sense, but not in a 12-inch or 13-inch form factor).
Read: The Apple Core/ZDNet
Asus Eee PC … Touchscreen and/or Tablet?
May 24, 2008
This would almost fall under the “Rumors” category, however it’s a quote from an Asus Australia official (actually the Australian national retail manager to be precise), Emmanuele Silanesu, and it could be as big as the original Eee PC announcement. Asus appears to be looking at something in the Eee PC area that would not be a typical clamshell laptop/notebook form factor, and it would have a touchscreen, with the official announcement at Computex in Taipei (Taiwan) in a few weeks:
Speaking exclusively to Current.com.au, Asus Australia national retail manager, Emmanuele Silanesu, said the company’s Eee PC division was “obviously looking at other form factors rather than just a clamshell”.
While he could not give further details, Silanesu said the new model would use a touchscreen and hinted it could see the light at Taipei’s Computex show, which begins 3 June.
As the article notes, the original Asus Eee PC ultraportable, the Asus Eee PC 700 was revealed around this time last year at Computex.
Read: Current.com.au
