i5

Update: You can find the full review of the 15-inch MacBook Pro here.

Apple's latest MacBook Pros are here, and we have both the 13- and 15-inch models at the CNET offices. The systems are currently running our benchmark tests, but here are our initial hands-on impressions after playing around with both for several hours.

MacBook Pro, 13-inch, 2.7GHz dual-core Core i7 Last year, we remarked that the popular 13-inch MacBook Pro, with its older Core 2 Duo processor, was due for an update compared with its faster 15-inch cousin. That time has come in a big way; … Read more

Intel's Sandy Bridge chipset flaw is bringing some Best Buy new product rollouts to a screeching halt, according to representatives contacted at Best Buy stores.

Intel said Monday that it had stopped shipments of the chipset that accompanies its second-generation Intel Core ("Sandy Bridge") processor owing to a flaw that can affect access to a hard-disk drive, optical drive, or other device that connects to a computer using SATA technology.

As a result, PC makers including Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Toshiba have pulled systems from online sales as well as suspending sales at retailers like Best Buy.

Though … Read more

Hewlett-Packard announced today that customers can return products that use Intel's faulty Sandy Bridge chipset, following a similar announcement yesterday from Dell.

Intel said Monday that it had stopped shipments of the chipset that accompanies its Second-Generation Intel Core ("Sandy Bridge") processor due to a flaw that can affect access to a hard-disk drive, optical drive, or other device that connects to a computer using SATA technology.

Customers can "return their affected product and choose a comparable product or receive a refund," HP said today in a statement. The world's largest PC maker repeated … Read more

Intel's perplexing "innovation" endeavors notwithstanding, it does make, lest we forget, the world's fastest PC processors. Namely, Sandy Bridge. Systems using the freshly-minted chip are now widely available from top-tier vendors--but they're at the very high end of the pricing spectrum.

Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba serve as arguably the best examples of Sandy Bridge systems. Let's start with Toshiba's Qosmio X500-Q930S, which uses the Sandy Bridge i7-2630QM quad-core processor. That chip is rated at 2GHz but can automatically overclock--what Intel calls "Turbo Boost"--to 2.9GHz.

If Intel's most advanced quad-core … Read more

Gateway has been successful in bringing strong desktop systems to the budget-minded market with its DX series of multimedia PCs, and we're treated to another refresh to the whole line at CES 2011. With three additions including the DX4350-43, DX4850-27e, and DX4850-45, these PCs should hold true to their legacy as affordable, general-purpose PCs.

Under the hood, all three desktops will feature Intel's new second-generation Core i5 2300 processors, an Intel H67 Express Chipset, Wi-Fi, a Blu-ray player, and up to 3.5 terabytes of storage with the addition of Gateway's 1.5TB SATA hard drives--a big … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Samsung laptops have caught our eye for more than a year now, with an increasingly impressive design aesthetic and fairly good prices to boot. Today, its announcement of a thin, 13-inch laptop aimed squarely at the MacBook Air-loving crowd seems to indicate a direction in higher-end products, too, and we certainly can't complain.

The 9 Series comes with a second-generation Intel Core i5-2537M CPU, 4GB of DD43 RAM, and a 128GB solid-state drive, along with Windows 7 Professional. The design looks great so far: its metal finish has beautiful curved edges, and Samsung boasts it's the thinnest … Read more

Last year, the Dell Vostro V13 was an affordable small-business laptop surprise, a thin 13-incher that amounted to an affordable Adamo for budget shoppers. Dell's holiday update, the Vostro V130, keeps the same aluminum and magnesium-alloy flat design as the V13, but gives the innards a boost. We have one here at CNET, and we've been trying it out leading up to a forthcoming review.

The V130, like many Dell laptops, comes in a variety of configurations starting affordable and ranging up to the pricey. Our V130 has a Core i5 ULV processor, which runs about half the … Read more

Can't choose between a laptop and a tablet? The Acer Iconia may be the product you've been waiting for.

At a Manhattan press event on Tuesday, Acer announced a dual-screen multitouch laptop that, while looking like a concept computer in the flesh, also looks like it's trying to get the best of two worlds at once. Iconia is a 14-inch laptop with an additional 14-inch screen where a keyboard would normally be, making the device in effect a large-scale version of a Toshiba Libretto we reviewed a few months ago.

The focus on the Iconia seems to … Read more

The new MacBook Air offers an interesting paradox: a spanking-new, ultra-thin design that is wrapped around old Intel chips.

The just-announced 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch Airs are a marvel of thin design, with the smaller model weighing in at only 2.3 pounds and both models only 0.68 inches at the thickest point. What Apple CEO Steve Jobs described as MacBook-meets-iPad. And inside is Apple's latest and greatest flash storage technology that sits directly on the system board as well as a new higher-performance Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics chipset.

Also inside are old Intel processors. How old? Old enough to date back to the same line of processors used in the original MacBook Air, announced three years ago come January. No power-efficient--and much newer--Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 processors here. So, what gives?

Here's the pithy, tepid statement that Jobs made Tuesday during the MacBook Air rollout: "The Core 2 Duo is a fast processor for this class of machine." And Apple had this to say in its press release yesterday. "Flash storage combined with power-efficient Intel Core 2 Duo processors and Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics delivers an ideal balance of mobility, battery life and performance."

But digging a little deeper, the reason is really no different than the rationale given for the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which also uses Core 2 Duo processors. In short, real estate. Because Apple needs to tap into the performance goodness of the graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia--even in a highly compact design like the MacBook Air--Apple can't use a new Core i series processor because it would require too many chips: an Intel Core i5 processor (as an example), an Intel chipset, and the discrete Nvidia GPU. (Also: see Additional Notes at bottom.)

Apple solves the real estate problem by using a two-chip design (see graphic): the Core 2 Duo and the Nvidia GeForce 320M chipset.… Read more