Samsung 11.6-Inch Series 9 Notebook Available for Pre-Order Now

At the end of last week, Samsung announced two new 11.6-inch Series 9 laptops and one of these is already available for pre-order form a North American retailer, which listed it at a rather low $999 price point.

The notebook features Samsung's new stylish design and is, for now, available only in black, but other colorways are expected to arrive once the laptop will start shipping.

Under the hood, the Series 9 model listed, which carries the product number NP900X1B-A02US, is powered by a second-generation Intel Core ultra-low voltage processor.

This goes by the name of Core i3-2357M and it features dual processing cores clocked at 1.3GHz with support for Intel's Hyper-Threading technology, 3MB of Level 3 cache and a built-in Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU.

The Sandy Bridge processor is seconded by 2GB of DDR3 system memory and by a 64GB mSATA solid state drive with Windows 7 Home Premium pre-installed.

All these are tucked away under a backlit chiclet style keyboard and the whole notebook, including the non-removable 4-cell Lithium-Ion battery pack, weight in a rather low 2.34 pounds.

As far as connectivity options are concerned, the Samsung Series 9 model listed online includes the usual 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, and Gigabit Ethernet options as well as a micro-HDMI video output.

The rest of the features list sports a USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports, a 1.3MP webcam, a microSD memory card slot and a pair of 1.5W integrated stereo speakers. The 11.6-inch display has a matte finish and supports a resolution of 1366x768 pixels.

Samsung's Series 9 11.6-inch notebook model is available for pre-order from J&R with a price tag of $999, which actually makes it $50 cheaper than Samsung's MSRP. A shipping date wasn't provided by the retailer. (via Notebook News)

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Maingear Adds Nvidia Optimus Support to the Clutch-15 Notebook

Maingear has just updated the configuration of its popular 15.6-inch Clutch-15 notebook to feature support for Nvidia's Optimus technology, that was specially developed to save battery life by automatically switching between the on-board and discrete GPUs, depending on the tasks run.

The new notebook uses the same case and full size keyboard with a number pad as its predecessor, but has now received a discrete Nvidia GeForce GT 525M graphics card that is compatible with the company's Optimus technology.

Just as before, at the heart of the notebook stand Intel's second generation Core i3 and Core i5 processors, users having the option of choosing between four such CPUs.

The options range from the i3-2310M to the i5-2540M and all of these chips features dual computing cores as well as HyperThreading support.

These processors can be seconded by as much as 8GB of DDR3 1333MHz memory, while storage options include various HDD and SSD models with capacities up to 512GB.

The rest of the hardware specifications include the mandatory 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth connectivity, a 1.4MP webcam, a 3-in-1 memory card reader, as well as HDMI, eSATA and VGA ports.

The entire notebook, including the 4-cell Lithium Ion battery pack, weights 4.75 pounds and the 15.6-inch glossy LED backlit display features a resolution of 1366x768 pixels.

“The Maingear Clutch-15 updated with Nvidia Optimus technology offers a great option for those looking for portable productivity, business travelers, students and casual gamers can stay connected wherever they are.” said Wallace Santos, CEO and Founder of Maingear.

Clutch-15 users can also pair the notebook with an optional 90 watt, charging docking station that features extra connectivity such as VGA, DVI, RJ-45, audio out, four USB 2.0 ports and optional optical disc drives including Blu-ray.

Pricing, not including the docking station, starts at $1,029, but the new Clutch-15 isn't yet available on Maingear's website.

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X500 Is Getac's Mightiest Rugged Notebook

Getac might not act often, but when it does, it definitely knows how to garner whatever attention it needs to move forwards, such as, in this case, launching its strongest rugged notebook yet. Although they don't get released often, rugged laptops definitely exist and are the only ones capable of withstanding hard weather and any other sort of harsh environment conditions.

Still, the amount of work put into making a machine as durable as possible would be wasted if its performance made it useless.

Getac definitely did not let its EPEAT gold-certified X500 even get close to having performance drawbacks, having made a point of using a powerful Intel CPU, namely the Core i7 2.66 GHz CPU, among other things.

Users versed in such things will know that Intel processors have the Turbo Boost technology, which dynamically overclocks used cores whenever one or more are underused.

In this case, the 2.66 GHz chip can jump to 3.33 GHz, while the 4MB of Intel Smart Cache memory makes sure things run smoothly and quick.

Getac also put in the NVIDIA GeForce GT330M MXM GPU (512 MB VRAM) and a 15.6-inch, 1000 NITs QuadraClear high definition display.

Memory and storage aren't specified exactly in the press release, beyond mentioning two storage devices (RAID compatible).

Either way, all the hardware, complete with multi-touch and various connectivity capabilities, is packed inside a case that has everything needed to withstand the rigors of military use, even on the battlefield (shock, vibration, dust, water and even heat/fire resistance is conferred by the rugged case).

"Designed for our core military customers, the new X500 is the most powerful and configurable rugged notebook we’ve ever made,” said Jim Rimay, president, Getac.

"New from the ground up, the X500, with it’s signature design, combines the best features of our B300, M230 and A790 models all while providing over twice the performance of the A790."

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