ASUS TO LAUNCH EP121, EP101, EP102 AND EP71 TABLETS AT CES

Like every other PC maker on the planet, Asus is also set to unveil a new line of tablet computers at CES next week. Asus released a teaser video of its 12.1 inch EP121 last week. A couple of days ago, the company also released some close-up shots of its tablets.

We already knew that the EP121 will have a large display and a keyboard docking station although it is not clear whether that keyboard part is optional. There will also be a few smaller models. One of the machines- the Eee Pad EP102 - seems to have a slide-out keyboard. Another model, the EP101, appears to have a detachable keyboard much like the larger EP121. Both models are expected to have 10 inch displays.

The EP71 doesn't seem to have any sort of keyboard. It has a stylus which probably means that it has a resistive touchscreen display or an active digitizer. This model will probably have a 7 inch screen.

DELL TO LAUNCH LATITUDE 2120 WITH DUAL CORE ATOM PROCESSOR

The Dell Latitude netbooks are aimed at the education market. What makes them suitable for use in the classroom are their rubberized case and anti-microbial treatment.

Dell has been giving minor updates to these netbooks for a while, and now sources report that the company will launch a new model called the Latitude 2120 at CES next week.

The Dell Latitude 2120 will be available with an Intel Atom N550 dual core Atom processor and an optional Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator. It has a 10.1 inch display. A touchscreen display is available as an optional feature. Other specifications include 3 or 6-cell battery, 1 to 2GB of RAM, USB, Ethernet and VGA ports. No word on pricing or availability at the moment.

ASUS TO LAUNCH G73SW AND G53SW GAMING LAPTOPS WITH SANDY BRIDGE PROCESSORS

Asus will soon launch two new gaming laptops with Intel's upcoming 2nd generation Core series processors, codenamed Sandy Bridge. Intel is expected to officially launch the Sandy Bridge platform at CES in January.

The Asus G73SW and the G53SW have 17.3 inch and 15.6 inch displays respectively. They will both have Intel Core i7-2630QM quad-core processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M discrete graphics with 1.5GB of dedicated video memory, up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, full HD displays and hard drives combined with solid state storage.

Other specifications include WiFi 802.11b/g/n, USB 3.0 ports, Bluetooth, webcam with microphone and Blu-ray drive. Windows 7 Home Premium is the operating system onboard.

The Asus G73SW with Blu-ray will be priced at around 2,000 Euros ($2,650).

ASUS EEE NOTE EA800 PREVIEW

The Asus Eee Note EA800 is one of the most interesting devices to hit the market in 2010. the tablet / note-taking device is not yet available for purchase in the US, but it has started shipping in Taiwan.

The Eee Note EA800 has an 8-inch 64-shade grayscale display. It is designed for note-taking. While popular tablets like iPad and Galaxy Tab have colorful multi-touch displays, the Eee Note uses a stylus and a custom OS to provide a better writing and drawing experience.

The folks at Laptop Magazine have published their first impressions of the tablet. The Eee Note looks more like an eBook reader with a grayscale display than a tablet. But the device also has a high-resolution display and a stylus for pressure sensitive input. You can also surf the web, take photographs or record audio notes with the tablet.

According the Laptop Magazine, the best feature of the tablet is its battery life. It also stores your notes well. On the flip side, the notes are stored as GIF images. Unfortunately the tablet can't convert your hand-written notes to text. And that might put off some buyers.

HP PAVILION DV7-4290US: FIRST INTEL SANDY BRIDGE LAPTOP TO HIT THE US

The HP Pavilion DV7-4290US, which is in stock at eCost, is the first Intel Sandy Bridge notebook to be available in the US.

The Pavilion DV7-4290US has a 17.3 inch display with a resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels. It is powered by a 2GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM Sandy Bridge processor. Other specifications include 6GB of DDR3 memory, 1TB of hard drive space, Blu-ray Combo drive and a 9-cell battery. The laptop runs Windows 7 Home Premium operating system.

The new Pavilion DV7 also has a built-in webcam and mic, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11n, Gigabit LAN, audio system with subwoofer, 4 USB 2.0 ports, a 5-in-1 media card reader, HDMI, VGA outputs and a fingerprint reader.

The HP Pavilion DV7-4290US has a brushed aluminum case. It is priced at $1,129.99 (eCost).

VERIZON DROPS SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB PRICE TO $499

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is now available from Verizon for as little as $499. If you purchased the 7 inch tablet within the last two weeks for $599, you are eligible for a $100 refund. What's more, Verizon is giving free movie rental credit worth $60 to new customers. You can use this credit to buy movies from the Samsung Media Hub or the Blockbuster app store that comes with the US version of the tablet.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab has a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor, front and rear facing cameras, Bluetooth, WiFi and 3G. It runs Android 2.2. Although,Galaxy Tab is the best Android tablet on the market at the moment, it is expensive for a 7 inch machine even after this price drop.

It looks like the new price hasn't started showing up online, but it is reportedly available in some Verizon stores.

LENOVO LAUNCHES THINKPAD EDGE E220S AND E420S NOTEBOOKS WITH NEW CORE SERIES PROCESSORS

Lenovo has made two new additions to its ThinkPad Edge series. The new Edge E220s and E420s notebooks are available with Intel's second generatin Core series processors. They also sport HD webcams, edge-to-edge displays and matte lids.

The ThinkPad Edge E220s has a 12.5 inch display. It measures 1 inch in thickness and weighs less than 3.5 pounds. The Edge E420s weighs 4.1 pounds with its slot-loading optical drive. The E420s will also have AMD's Radeon HD 6630M switchable graphics option. Other specifications include WiFi, optional mobile broadband, 4G and 5400 rpm or 7200 rpm hard drives.

Pricing and availability
The ThinkPad Edge E220s and the E420s will start shipping in April. The base model of Edge E220s will run $899 while the E420s will have a starting price of $749. Lenovo will also offer a cheaper E420 and E220 worth $599.

LENOVO LAUNCHES THINKPAD X120E WITH AMD ZACATE PROCESSORS

Lenovo has launched a new laptop called the ThinkPad X120e. It is actually a sequel to the ThinkPad X100e. While the X100e had an AMD Nile processor, the X120e is powered by AMD's new Zacate processors.

With its AMD processor, the X100e delivered better performance than a typical ultraportable with Intel Atom processors. On the downside, it got only around 3.5 hours of battery life and had heat issues. But all that is history now. Lenovo claims that X120e will get over 6.5 hours of battery life. The company has, reportedly, also addressed the heat issue.

Like the X100e, the X120e also has an 11.6 inch display. It will be available with either AMD Zacate E-240 or E-350 processor and AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics.

Pricing and availability
The Lenovo ThinkPad X120e is priced at an enticing $399. It will be available in February.

HP LAUNCHES PAVILION DM1Z WITH AMD ZACATE PROCESSOR

HP has introduced a new ultraportable notebook. The HP Pavilion dm1z is the company's first portable laptop with an AMD Zacate processor.

The HP Pavilion dm1z has an 11.6 inch display. It is powered by an AMD E-350 Zacate processor with AMD Radeon HD6310 graphics which supports DirectX 11, 3D graphics acceleration and HD video.

The HP Pavilion dm1z looks a lot like the larger version of an HP Mini 210 laptop. It has a 100% full sized keyboard and an HD display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. The notebook comes standard with a 6-cell, 55WHr battery which will reportedly get around 9.5 hours of battery life with WiFi turned off. HP says that you will get up to 10.5 hours of run time if you configure the laptop with an SSD instead of an HDD.

The base configuration which is priced at $449 has a 250GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM and WiFi 802.11b/gn. The laptop supports up to 8GB of RAM and up to 750GB of hard drive.

The HP Pavilion dm1z will start shipping in January.

LENOVO INTRODUCES IDEAPAD S100 NETBOOK

Lenovo has made a new addition to its netbook lineup. Like the IdeaPad S10, S10-2 and S10-3, the new IdeaPad S100 also has a 10 inch display. But unlike its predecessors, it supports a dual core Atom processor.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S100 can be configured with either an Atom N455 or an Atom N475 single core processor or an Atom N570 dual core processor. Other specifications include integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics, a 2 megapixel webcam, WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth. The netbook supports up to 2GB of DDR3 memory and up to 320GB of hard drive space.

The IdeaPad S100 has a chiclet-style keyboard which Lenovo says is 98% the size of a full-sized keyboard and that is pretty impressive for a 10 inch netbook.

Pricing and availability
The Lenovo IdeaPad S100 will start shipping in March. Prices start at $329.99.

LENOVO IDEAPAD V370, V470 AND V570 GET SANDY BRIDGE PROCESSORS

Lenovo has upgraded its mainstream IdeaPad V series notebooks with Intel's Sandy Bridge Core series processors. The IdeaPad V370, V470 and V570 sport 13.3 inch, 14 inch and 15.6 inch displays respectively. They are now available with up to 8GB of RAM and up to Intel Core i7 second generation Sandy Bridge processors.

The new V series IdeaPads also sport a 21mm thick chassis and trendy aluminum casings. Other specifications include up to 1TB of storage space, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, HDMI, eSATA, USB 2.0 and a DVD burner / Blu-ray combo drive. The graphics option on the IdeaPad V370 is the NVIDIA GeForce 315M with 1GB of dedicated video RAM. The V470 and V570 are available with the GeForce 525M discrete graphics with 2GB of video RAM. It is also possible to switch to integrated graphics while performing tasks that don't require the additional GPU power.

All the three laptops also come standard with a fingerprint scanner, Lenovo Security Suite and RapidBoot for Windows 7 which makes boot and shut-down times fast.

Pricing and availability
The Lenovo IdeaPad V Series will go on sale from April 2011. Prices start at $599.99

LENOVO UNVEILS THE NEW LEPAD TABLET AND IDEAPAD U1 HYBRID

Lenovo reintroduced its IdeaPad U1 Hybrid at CES yesterday. The Hybrid consists of a standalone tablet and a keyboard / docking station which has a processor, battery and hard drive of its own. When the tablet part is docked, you can use the machine like a laptop. When undocked it works like a typical tablet.

When Lenovo introduced the concept last year it was running the Lenovo Skylight operating system. However, the model that Lenovo showed off yesterday runs Android. In the laptop mode the machine continues to run Windows 7.

Another notable change is in the screen size. Last year, the U1 Hybrid sported an 11.6 inch display. This year the device has a 10.1 inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The tablet currently runs Android 2.2. When undocked, the tablet which is now called the LePad runs on its own 1.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The tablet also has 1GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The U1 Hybrid is powered by a 1.2GHz Intel Core i5-540UM processor. It has 2GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive.

The LePad will be available as a standalone tablet in China for about $520. The U1 Hybrid will run about $1300.

ASUS LAUNCHES FOUR NEW TABLETS

Asus has introduced four new tablet computers. The machines run Windows and Android operating systems and have screen sizes ranging from 7 to 12 inches. They will be priced in the range of $399 to $1099.

The top-of-the-line EP121 will start shipping this month for between $999 and $1099. It is probably the most interesting of the four tablet and has a 12.1 inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It runs Windows 7 operating system. Asus claims that the EP121 is way better than a typical tablet and for good reason. It has an Intel Core i5 dual core processor, a capacitive multitouch display and an active digitizer for stylus input.

The tablet also supports an external Bluetooth keyboard. The Asus EP121 will be available with 32GB or 64GB of SSD, WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth 3.0, up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 2 megapixel camera and 2 USB ports. Few details are available about the other three tablets at the moment.

SAMSUNG INTRODUCES SLIDING TABLET WITH A SLIDE-OUT KEYBOARD

Samsung introduced a new 'sliding tablet' compter at CES yesterday. Even though, Samsung says that its tablet creates a new category of mobile PC, it is the based on the same concept used in the Eee Pad Slider Asus recently introduced. The difference is that the Asus Eee Pad runs Android, while the Samsung Sliding Tablet runs Windows 7.

The Samsung Sliding Tablet has a 10.1 inch HD display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. It is powered by a 1.66GHz Intel Atom processor. The tablet runs the Samsung Touch Launcher on top of Windows 7 Home Premium. Other specifications include 2GB of DDR2 memory and a 32GB or 64GB SSD.

The tablet also has an HDMI output, a USB 2.0 port, a 1.3 megapixel camera, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, 3G and optional 4G WiMAX. There is a 6-cell battery which will reportedly power the device for 9 hours on a single charge.

The Slide-out keyboard, which has 81 keys, tucks away behind the computer when it is not in use. There is also an ambient light sensor. The Samsung Sliding Tablet is due out in March for $699 and up.

MOTOROLA XOOM TABLET MAKES ITS DEBUT, COMING TO VERIZON IN Q1 2011

Motorola has joined the growing list of companies introducing dual core Tegra 2 based Android tablets at CES. The company officially introduced its 10 inch Xoom tablet yesterday and said that it will be available from Verizon in the first quarter of 2011. At launch the tablet won't support 4G connectivity, but an OTA update in Q2 will take care of that.

The Motorola Xoom has a 5 megapixel camera, WiFi 802.11N, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and 32GB of internal storage. It will reportedly get around 10 hours of video playback, but before you get excited bear in mind that that figure isn't based on real-word testing results.

The Motorola Xoom can handle 720p HD video recording. It can also play 1080p HD video. No word on pricing at the moment, but Motorola has always maintained it will be very competitively priced.