Gazing into the WWDC crystal ball: Updated iMacs, MacBook Pros, what else?

During the upcoming WWDC conference in San Francisco, Apple is expected to announce updates to its Mac line of desktop and laptop computers. This may include the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, Mac Pro desktop, iMac all-in-one, and perhaps even the Mac Mini small form factor desktop.

Rumors, leaks, alleged lists of part numbers, and blurry photos of spec stickers have all surfaced in the past weeks. Some of these sources seem more reliable than others, and Apple prognosticators are wrong at least as often as they are right. The leaked part numbers and spec sheets found here and … Read more

Acer adds a new Ivy Bridge laptop, the Aspire V5

Adding to the growing list of laptops with Intel's new third-generation Core i-series CPUs, Acer has announced the Aspire V5. Not exactly ultrabook-thin, the 14- and 15-inch V5 models are being pitched as thin-and-light on a budget. Acer says they are "great for back-to-school and savvy consumers looking for performance, style, and value."

At 30 percent thinner than Acer's previous budget midsize line, the 14-inch V5 is 0.79 inch thick and weighs 4.6 pounds; the 15-inch model is 0.83 inch and 5 pounds. The design is nondescript, looking a lot like a classic … Read more

Samsung adds Ivy Bridge, two sub-$1,000 Series 5 laptops

Aimed squarely at the back-to-school set, Samsung's pair of new Series 5 laptops look like affordable, workaday systems.

Neither the 15.6-inch Series 5 nor the 14-inch Series 5 500 falls into Intel's ultrabook category due to their general thickness, but they also look like reasonably attractive and capable mainstream PCs.

For the $899 Series 5, you get a quad-core, 2.3GHz Core i7 3610QM chip, a 1,366x768-pixel screen, 8GB of system memory, a 750GB hard drive, and a Nvidia GeForce GT 630M graphics chip. Samsung says the overall weight is 5.5 pounds, with "6-plus" hours of claimed battery life.… Read more

Belkin to add USB 3.0 to Macs via Thunderbolt dock

Generally, Mac users have been missing out on USB 3.0, instead, they have had Thunderbolt from the beginning of the new standard. Now that's about to change, thanks to Belkin.

The company announced yesterday a new docking device called Thunderbolt Express Dock, model F4U055, which allows for adding three USB 3.0 ports to a Mac via the computer's Thunderbolt port. In addition, it also offers one port of the following connection types: FireWire 800, Gigabit Eithernet, and eSATA, as well as one audio in and one audio out. Similar to most Thunderbolt devices, the dock comes … Read more

Dell's redesigned Inspiron laptops are near-ultrabook thin

Dell is rolling Intel's new Ivy Bridge chips out painfully slowly. First to Alienware laptops, then Latitude, and now the mainstream Inspiron line (with XPS still missing for now).

On the bright side, the new Inspiron designs look great, and having had a chance to play around with a few of these systems, they're nearly ultrabook thin in some cases, but very reasonably priced.

The new 13-, 14-, 15-, and 17-inch Inspiron laptops come in three flavors, the regular R, the thinner Z, and the more upscale SE (or special edition).

Not all screen sizes will be available in each category, so you'll end up with a mix of about a half-dozen base models -- which is better than Dell used to be, but a far cry from, say, the two MacBook Air base models (considering the Air is now Apple's "mainstream" laptop). Of those, only the Inspiron 14z is officially labeled as an ultrabook.

The new designs are thin and modern, with two-tone lids -- most in either either gunmetal gray brushed metal or brightly colored plastic contrasted against a lighter border. The Special Edition models are in "stealth black," with 1080p screens and discrete graphics, AMD in the 15-inch, Nvidia in the 17-inch. Blu-ray and SSD are options in those higher-end SE systems. … Read more

Fujitsu comes to market with a pair of ultrabooks

We seem to be approaching critical mass for new ultrabooks this week. Acer, Lenovo, and Sony all announced new thin laptops yesterday. Now Fujitsu enters the fray with the LifeBook U772 and the LifeBook UH572.

The U772 is the star of Fujitsu's lineup. Starting at $1,149, the U772 has a 14-inch, 1,280x768-pixel screen with edge-to-edge glass, and comes with Intel's new third-generation Core i5 or Core i7 chip, depending on the configuration. For its measurements, Fujitsu says the U772 is .69 inch thick, weighs 3.15 pounds, and offers seven hours of battery life.… Read more

Toshiba serves up ultra-wide-screen, budget Satellite U845W and U845 ultrabooks

Toshiba used to have just one ultrabook line: the Portege Z835. Toshiba's added to its ultrabooks arsenal with a new pair of Satellite models: one's an affordable mainstream $749 model, the other's a wide-screen 14-incher that feels like it escaped the concept lab. And as for that Portege, it's been upgraded to Ivy Bridge processors and renamed the Portege Z935. We took a look at all of Toshiba's latest ultrabooks up close; here are our impressions and details on the ultrabook trio.

All three of Toshiba's new ultrabooks sail under $1,000: the Satellite … Read more

Toshiba shows off Windows 8 prototypes at Computex

We recently got chance to check out some concept laptops and tablets from Toshiba, all built around Windows 8. Today, Toshiba is unveiling those systems at Computex, as a sneak peek at the company's road map for Microsoft's upcoming operating system.

Toshiba describes the system as:

A Windows 8 ultrabook convertible designed in partnership with Intel A touch-screen Windows RT clamshell PC A Windows RT tablet with keyboard dock

Below, check out a few shots we snapped of the systems in question. The versions we saw were nonworking mockups, and there's no guarantee these exact models will … Read more

Sony Vaio L Series all-in-one gets Ivy Bridge, media features galore

Sony has gone all-in on the concept of the home entertainment PC with its new Vaio L-Series all-in-one desktop. Yes, it has Intel's new third-generation (Ivy Bridge) Core CPUs, but that's almost besides the point. Alongside those new chips, you'll find Sony has pushed harder than ever to make this PC an all-encompassing digital media hub.… Read more