CoolNewStuff

Small as it is, the M11x indeed has substance. The first sign of hope was the GeForce GT 335M graphics card and features hybrid graphics so you can enable or disable the videocard to suit your needs, requiring a manual switch and reboot to implement. Sporting an additional 24 CUDA cores and a 20MHz core clock boost, the M11x’s GT 335M performed 40 percent faster than the Asus’s GT 325M. [...]

Sony has updated its sturdy but sexy three-pound powerhouse with an even faster Core i5 processor while keeping everything else we loved. The VAIO Z VPCZ133GM has switchable Nvidia graphics, a gorgeous 1600 x 900-pixel display, a comfy backlit keyboard, and zippy dual solid state drives. The silver VAIO Z (also available in black for the same price and Carbon Fiber for $50) is decked out in aluminum and magnesium, [...]

The Toshiba Portege R700-S1320 delivers strong Core i5 performance (no ULV chip here) in a remarkably portable 3.2-pound body. The R700 wears a businesslike suit — matte black being this season’s must-have — and aside from a couple of LEDs by the trackpad and some chrome highlights on the screen’s bezel, there’s not a whole lot of flashy stuff going on around the R700′s magnesium chassis.The chrome hinges are plastic, [...]

HP’s high-end Envy line of laptops is one of the few bright spots for laptop design in an industry currently filled with midprice plastic boxes. With a solidly built (but slightly too heavy) aluminum and magnesium chassis and a capable collection of components, we liked the original 13- and 15-inch versions of the Envy, but they were priced out of reach for most. The new 14-inch Envy 14 (we always [...]

The Portege R705 is a 13-inch laptop  which is the biggest screen size we’d consider carrying around on a regular basis, but also the smallest we’d be able to comfortably use for full-time computing. It’s thinner than the current white plastic MacBook (but not as svelte as the MacBook Air or Dell Adamo XPS) and has a sturdy magnesium alloy chassis. The R705 looks a lot like past Porteges, and [...]