amd

I've been a big fan of Samsung's laptop designs, going back to the QX401 last year. While I had spent extensive time with the sleek Series 9 and diminutive Series 3, I was away on vacation when the Series 7 was first introduced. Now that one has arrived at CNET's offices, it seemed like a good time to do a quick first take, based on my first few minutes with the laptop.

Sleek metal: clean cut, brushed lines, very solid. The Series 7 is more impressive than I expected, more along the lines of an Apple MacBook Pro, and the way the HP Envy looked to our eyes for the first time. It's also a wide laptop, but that keyboard goes edge to edge. … Read more

Advanced Micro Devices unveiled a restructuring plan today that will reduce its global workforce by 10 percent, or about 1,400 jobs, by 2012.

The layoffs, which are expected to save the company $200 million, represent the first major action by new CEO Rory Read, who took the helm of the chipmaker in August.

"Reducing our cost structure and focusing our global workforce on key growth opportunities will strengthen AMD's competitiveness and allow us to aggressively pursue a balanced set of strategic activities designed to accelerate future growth," Read said in a statement. "The actions we … Read more

Remember the HP Slate? It's back.

HP's tablet that's not the TouchPad was originally released in 2010 as a Windows-based tablet aimed at offering business users an iPad-esque experience, albeit with a capacitive screen that works with an included stylus. The new Slate 2 is still Windows-based, and still business-targeted, with embedded security including a TPM chip.

The 1,024x768 resolution 8.9-inch-screened tablet weighs 1.5 pounds, and has specs like a Windows Netbook: a 1.5GHz Intel Z670 processor, up to 64GB mSATA SSM storage, and a promised 6 hours of battery life, an improvement on the original Slate.… Read more

Apple has refreshed its MacBook Pros with small but noteworthy bumps in speed, storage, and graphics power, and all prices remain the same.

Unveiled this weekend, the upgrades run across the board to include the 13-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch models.

The entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro now sports a 2.4GHz processor, inching up from 2.3GHz previously, while its hard drive capacity has been upgraded to 500GB from 320GB. The $1,499 13-inch MacBook Pro is now powered by a 2.8GHz processor, from 2.7GHz previously, and the hard drive has been beefed up to 750 gigabytes from 500GB.… Read more

When the history of laptops in 2011 is written, it will be said that this was the year of the ultraportable (not to be confused with the Ultrabook). We've seen more 11.6-inch laptops than ever before, along with a handful of 12.1-inch and 12.5-inch alternatives.

Below you'll find a quick roundup of some of the best ultraportables of this year, along with a few high-profile near-misses. In the coming months, keep an eye out for more high-end models, such as the 11-inch Asus Zenbook UX21, which will start at $999. … Read more

For the sake of healthy competition in the CPU market, we wanted AMD to have a hit with its new Bulldozer CPU architecture. Sadly, reviews from around the Web indicate that AMD's new Bulldozer-driven FX-8150 CPU won't challenge Intel's leadership in performance and value.

Bulldozer is the code name for AMD's first new CPU design since the Phenom in 2007. In standalone product terms, the Bulldozer design is the core technology inside AMD's just-announced family of FX desktop chips. Technically speaking, Bulldozer brings some new architectural features--in particular, a new way to handle branched data processing. You will find excellent, in-depth Bulldozer architecture coverage at AnandTech, HotHardware, and PC Perspective, among other places.

Multi-flavored multicore On shelves, you'll find three different series in AMD's new FX line, as outlined in the AMD-provided image below. Note, too, that FX is now a standalone product line, as opposed to AMD's older, "FX"-designated Athlon and Phenom performance chips. And similar to the K variants of Intel's Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs, all of the FX chips ship with the CPU multiplier unlocked, making them ripe for overclocking.… Read more

Underneath the seemingly predictable veneer of the 14-inch Toshiba Satellite P745D-S4240 are two new stories, albeit ones that might not interest the average person much. The Satellite P series is a new laptop line for Toshiba, although you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between it and the M, A, and L series of Satellite laptops (the P replaces the M and A). Under the hood is a quad-core AMD A6 processor, part of a new line of budget-targeted AMD Vision A-series APUs that include better-than-Intel-integrated graphics to accompany mainstream processing power.… Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif.--Microsoft, in revealing details of its upcoming Windows 8 operating system this week at its Build developer conference here, has presented its vision for computing in a tablet era that's starkly different from the one offered by rival Apple.

Apple believes that consumers will want discreet devices that are designed to take on specific tasks. That's why its computers run a beefy operating system designed to handle heavy-duty computer processing required, for example, by computer-assisted design applications, and its iPads run a much lighter-weight operating system that's fine for surfing the Web or reading a … Read more

One of our favorite laptops is getting a welcome update. The HP Pavilion dm1 is keeping its name, but adding some new design and component features to better compete with the streak of 11-inch ultraportables that seem to be flooding the shelves these days.

We recently checked out the new Pavilion dm1 and its slightly updated look. The preview version we saw several weeks ago had a rubberized finish that HP calls its Soft-Touch Imprint technology. Subtle graphics patterns can be inlayed directly into the rubber, rather than simply printed on top, for added durability. Just before this announcement, HP … Read more