Tag: ces

ThinkPads Announced at CES 2021

Posted on by Laptop Retrospective

ThinkPad Announcements at CES 2021

Below find the new ThinkPads joining the lineup in 2021. I might add additional thoughts in future articles.

ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga (13.5″)

360-degree hinge with Titanium construction. Intel Evo CPUs. 3:2 aspect ratio with 2K display.

Product Page

VIDEO

ThinkPad X12 Detachable (12″)

The long-awaited return of the X1 Tablet. Intel 11th generation CPUs. 1920×1280 (3:2) 440 nit screen with Gorilla Glass. Optional folio keyboard with TrackPoint of course.

PRODUCT PAGE

VIDEO

ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6 (14″)

Intel Evo with 16:10 and a wider touchpad to match. A larger battery still makes room for internal pen storage.

PRODUCT PAGE

VIDEO

ThinkPad X1 Nano (13″)

Starting at $1900 CAD, the lightest ThinkPad yet at 1kg. Intel 11th Gen CPU, TB4, 16:10 screen and IR camera with a 2K screen as standard.

PRODUCT PAGE

VIDEO

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 (14″)

16:10 display. Intel Evo vPro and everything you’ve come to like about the X1 Carbon. A wider touchpad and a larger battery are now included.

PRODUCT PAGE

VIDEO

 

Will 5G Flourish in Laptops?

Posted on by Laptop Retrospective

2021 is off and running with CES and one thing is quite clear and that is people are talking about 5G. Specifically, companies are showcasing it as an included feature in their laptops.

Out of curiosity, I started a simple poll on the YouTube Community page for the channel and asked people to vote on how they felt about cellular connectivity in laptops. After a day, the following results were tallied:

Poll results from the YouTube Community page on cellular connectivity in laptops. Image captured January 9, 2021.

The results were interesting. Approximately two-thirds of respondents didn’t see the need or felt the cost was a barrier. Several people commented that if they needed the internet they either tethered from their phone or used their phone to create a mobile hotspot. One commenter even suggested the benefits of doing this as it allows you to position the “antenna” (the phone) in a better position for a signal without the need to move the entire laptop. I found this thought very sound having done so myself on several occasions.

The question then is of course, who are these laptop manufacturers targeting with 5G? The answer I suspect is the same people that have always been targeted with cellular connectivity in laptops. Businesses. If they have employees that need to have internet access to do their job then it makes sense for the business to purchase a machine and a data plan to ensure they get it. I note a change already at CES this year, with 5G seemingly being used to target consumers as well. But for the average user, I suspect the data plans that are already being paid for as a part of a phone plan are enough. With people still mainly stuck and home or under travel restrictions, being in a location without WiFi is not currently a common experience for many users.

Lenovo’s landing page for the IdeaPad 5G at CES 2021

The big question is, will cellular modems break into the mainstream anytime soon? With cellular bands like 5G almost becoming a branding item like multi-lens cameras on smartphones, I could see it happening. There is also the potential for something like this to be great in areas where traditional infrastructure is not as reliable as cellular service. Time will tell if the consumer values this added feature that I suspect will be coming to more laptops this year than ever before. I suspect many customers however will see this and start to count on their fingers how many times and how much they are paying for internet access.

New NEC LAVIE Pro looks to be a “good” device, but is it good enough?

Posted on by Laptop Retrospective

NEC announced this week that it is releasing its LAVIE Pro to the world.

NEC while based in Japan, when it comes to laptop development is partnered with Lenovo, which makes sense if you want access to large-scale manufacturing capacity.

The specifications of the device appear to support a very mobile yet powerful laptop. Equipped with an i7-1165G7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, 1920×1080 IPS display, 512GB SSD and even an IR camera for Windows Hello as standard there is a lot to like. Although the design is made out of a boasted new carbon material wrapped in a soft-touch coating, the price tag is certainly premium at $1,699 USD.

Packing all of this into a package as thin and light won’t be cheap and it has to make room for a 49Wh battery, but at that price point, can it move beyond just being a “good” laptop? As with many premium devices, they invite comparison and I will be curious to see how the NEC LAVIE Pro stacks up once in the wild.

For full specifications, see their datasheet.

LG Annouces a new LG gram in 20221 sporting 16:10 displays

Posted on by Laptop Retrospective

LG has announced a new revised LG Gram Lineup sporting 16:10 displays. The main claim to fame of these devices is their lightweight, nice screens and solid build quality. They have been favoured by many reviewers for a nice moderate lifting device in terms of computer workload.

Pricing and availability should be coming out shortly. In the meantime, please see the specs below to see if any of the new models catch your eye.

LG Electronics is bringing to the first all virtual CES 2021 its eagerly awaited lineup of new gram laptops.

I did note that some models (with the exception of the LG gram 14) are pushing their namesake a bit in the weight category.

Specifications:

 

LG gram 17
(17Z90P)

LG gram 16
(16Z90P)

LG gram 14
(14Z90P)

LG gram 16 2-in-1
(16T90P)

LG gram 14 2-in-1
(14T90P)

Display Size

17-inch

16-inch

14-inch

16-inch

14-inch

LCD

WQXGA (2560 x
1600) IPS, DCI-P3 99
percent (Typical)

WQXGA (2560 x
1600) IPS, DCI-P3 99
percent (Typical)

WUXGA (1920 x
1200) IPS, DCI-P3 99
percent (Typical)

WQXGA (2560 x
1600), Touch IPS
Display, Corning®
Gorilla® Glass 6

WUXGA (1920 x
1200), Touch IPS
Display, Corning®
Gorilla® Glass 6

Aspect
Ratio

16:10

16:10

16:10

16:10

16:10

Weight

1350g (2.98lbs)

1190g (2.62lbs)

999g (2.2lbs)

1480g (3.26lbs)

1250g (2.76lbs)

Size

380.2 x 260.1 x
17.8mm
(14.97 x 10.24 x 0.70
inches)

355.9 x 243.4 x
16.8mm
(14.01 x 9.58 x 0.66
inches)

313.4 x 215.2 x
16.8mm
(12.34 x 8.47 x 0.66
inches)

356.6 x 248.3 x
16.95mm
(14.04 x 9.78 x 0.67
inches) 

314 x 219.5 x
16.75mm
(12.36 x 8.64 x 0.66
inches)

Battery

80Wh

80Wh

72Wh

80Wh

72Wh

CPU

11th Gen Intel®
Core™ Processor

11th Gen Intel®
Core™ Processor

11th Gen Intel®
Core™ Processor

11th Gen Intel®
Core™ Processor

11th Gen Intel®
Core™ Processor

GPU

Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Intel® UHD
Graphics

Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Intel® UHD
Graphics

Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Intel® UHD
Graphics

Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Intel® UHD
Graphics

Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Intel® UHD
Graphics

Memory

8/16GB
(LPDDR4x)

8/16GB
(LPDDR4x)

8/16GB
(LPDDR4x)

8/16GB
(LPDDR4x)

8/16GB
(LPDDR4x)

Storage

M.2 Dual SSD slots
(NVMeTM)

M.2 Dual SSD slots
(NVMeTM)

M.2 Dual SSD slots
(NVMeTM)

M.2 Dual SSD slots
(NVMeTM)

M.2 Dual SSD slots
(NVMeTM)

Color

White, Silver, Black

White, Silver, Black

White, Silver, Black

Silver, Black, Green

Silver, Black, Green

Keyboard

Backlit

Backlit

Backlit

Backlit

Backlit

I/O Port

USB 4 Gen3x2(x2,
USB PD,
ThunderboltTM 4),
USB 3.2 Gen2x1(x2),
HDMI, microSD/UFS,
HP-Out

USB 4 Gen3x2(x2,
USB PD,
ThunderboltTM 4),
USB 3.2 Gen2x1(x2),
HDMI, microSD/UFS,
HP-Out

USB 4 Gen3x2(x2,
USB PD,
ThunderboltTM 4), USB
3.2 Gen2x1(x2),
HDMI, microSD/UFS,
HP-Out

USB 4 Gen3x2(x2,
USB PD,
ThunderboltTM 4), USB
3.2 Gen2x1,
microSD/UFS,

HP-Out

USB 4 Gen3x2(x2,
USB PD,
ThunderboltTM 4), USB
3.2 Gen2x1,
microSD/UFS,

HP-Out

USP

Fingerprint Reader,
Compliant with 7 US
Military Standard
810G tests***, DTS X
Ultra, Wi-Fi 6

Fingerprint Reader,
Compliant with 7 US
Military Standard
810G tests***, DTS X
Ultra, Wi-Fi 6

Fingerprint Reader,

Compliant with 7 US
Military Standard
810G tests***, DTS X
Ultra, Wi-Fi 6

Fingerprint Reader,
Stylus Pen (Wacom
AES 2.0), Compliant
with 7 US Military
Standard 810G
tests***, DTS X Ultra,
Wi-Fi 6

Fingerprint Reader,
Stylus Pen (Wacom
AES 2.0), Compliant
with 7 US Military
Standard 810G
tests***, DTS X Ultra,
Wi-Fi 6