18-inch

Alienware M18x review: It's massive

While 17-inch desktop replacement laptops with decent gaming performance are easy to find, if not exactly common, to truly move into the realm of mobile home entertainment center, there's nothing like an even-larger 18-inch screen. We've recently seen both 18-inch multimedia laptops (the Acer Ethos 8951) and 17-inch hard-core gaming laptops (the Origin EON17-S), but the new Alienware M18x combines the best of both worlds into a powerhouse 18-incher with the muscle for serious gaming.

Of course, that kind of hybrid doesn't come cheap, and the M18x starts at $1,999, while our tricked-out review unit added … Read more

Transcend makes portable solid-state drive

If you like your thumb drive for the durability, you'll like what Transcend introduced on Monday. It's a new breed of compact external storage device that's based on 1.8-inch solid state drives (SSDs), the SSD18M.

Unlike traditional external storage devices that are based on hard-disk drives, the SSD18M is made of reliable NAND flash memory that contains no moving parts. This eliminates the possibility of mechanical failure due to shock or vibration and also provides substantial weight savings and reduced power consumption.

The new drive features both both eSATA and USB2.0 interface options. This means … Read more

Sony's 18-inch Blu-ray laptop is our portable home theater favorite

In any collection of similar laptops, the one with the Sony Vaio logo is likely to be the most expensive in the group. So, imagine our pleasant surprise to find the Vaio AW125to be less expensive than the other 18-inch, Blu-ray equipped laptops we've seen.

Our Blu-ray HP HDX18was $2,149, while the Blu-ray version of Acer's Aspire 8920was $2,499 (both have cheaper non-Blu-ray versions). In comparison, the Vaio AW125 was a mere $1,849 (although fancier models from the AW line can get up as high as $3,200).

We're big fans of the 18-inch … Read more

Toshiba announces faster 1.8-inch hard drive

Two weeks after releasing the largest capacity 1.8-inch hard drive, Toshiba announced on Thursday its MKxx29GSG series of this small form factor storage device that's finally catching up with the regular 2.5-inch laptop hard drives in terms of speed and storage space.

For a long time, 1.8-inch hard drives' performance was limited to 4,200rpm and the old-school ATA interface, making them significantly slower than the currently popular 2.5-inch hard drives that spin at 5,400rpm (or even faster at 7,200rpm) and use the SATA standard. That discrimination has ended now with Toshiba's … Read more

Toshiba 1.8-inch hard drive hits the 240GB mark

Toshiba announced on Tuesday two new 1.8-inch hard drives, including the single-platter 120GB (MKxx31GAL series) and the world's first dual-platter 240GB (MK2431GAH) internal hard drives. The single-platter version also includes an 80GB offering.

Generally speaking, 1.8-inch hard drives are small form factor portable hard drives, where the regular size is 2.5-inch--and used mostly in portable media players, camcorders and compact ultramobile PCs.

These two new hard drives use the Parallel ATA interface and feature the industry's highest area density at 344 gigabits per square inch. They incorporate the fourth-generation perpendicular magnetic recording technology, which Toshiba … Read more

Acer's ships new Gemstone Blue laptops

Your desktop replacement options expanded today, with Acer announcing its 16- and 18-inch Aspire Gemstone Blue notebooks are now available. The 16-inch Aspire 6920 starts at $849, and the 18.4-inch Aspire 8920 starts at $1,299. Both models have an Intel Core 2 Duo chip, Nvidia GeForce graphics, and a display with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a 1920x1080-pixel screen resolution for full HD goodness. The 18-inch model finds room for 5.1 speakers; the 16-inch model serves up 2.1 sound. Blu-ray is an option on higher-end configurations.

The Gemstone Blue design is a new look, which … Read more

What's up with 18-inch laptops?

You may (or may not) have heard some buzz lately about new laptop sizes, as models with 16- and 18-inch screens join the traditional 12-, 13-, 14-, 15-, and 17-inch party (plus all those 7- and 9-inch mininotebooks).

That may seem a little like overkill, but there is at least some method to the madness when it comes to the new 18-inch screen size (and these new sizes may eventually replace more traditional 15- and 17-inch displays). Take, for example, the very first 18-inch laptop we've gotten our hands on, the 18.4-inch Acer Aspire 8920.

The new screen … Read more

Kind of Blue: Acer launches new line of Blue-branded 16- and 18-inch laptops

We first told you back at CES about the laptop industry's move towards 16- and 18-inch laptops, highlighted by a 16-inch Dell prototype and our off-the-record discussions with several other vendors about these new screen sizes.

Acer is leading the charge with two new multimedia-oriented consumer laptops, the 16-inch Acer Aspire 6920 and the 18.4-inch Acer Aspire 8920. Both are part of what Acer is calling the Gemstone Blue series.

We just got a peek at these two new systems in person at a press event in New York, and while they're not going to be game-changers, … Read more