Another Computex comes to an end, and once again, there are a flurry of great announcements and products related to the PC industry and derivatives such as VR/AR and Gaming. We have run around to check as many things as we could (check our Computex 2017 coverage), but we didn’t stray too far from our normal regimen of laptops and key components such as CPUs and GPUS.
We’ve compiled this list (no particular order) of what we thought were the best products of the show, so congratulations to those companies and team who built them. The goal for next year: see and try even more products!
ASUS Flip S convertible laptop
ASUS came in force to Computex 2017, and the ASUS ZenBook Flip S is the most interesting laptop the company showed. At 10.9mm and 1.1Kg, t is the thinnest convertible laptop. It is also a powerful computer, with up to Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD and a digitizer pen. Add to that a good battery size and a starting price of $1099, and you have a laptop that provides excellent value.
NVIDIA Max-Q design for thin gaming laptops
The NVIDIA Max-Q design is a set of technologies and design rules from NVIDIA that enables PC-makers to build “real” gaming capable laptops into a thin and light form factor. By putting an extreme emphasis on power-efficiency, Max-Q design laptops can run the most demanding games without requiring a huge chassis and the weight associated with it. Not only gamers can benefit from this, but designers and creative users can too.
Qualcomm Mesh Networking Reference Design
WiFi connectivity remains a challenge for millions of users: bad connectivity, poor range, no line of sight and other problems abound in the real world. Qualcomm has been driving the next-generation mesh-based WiFi self-organising networks. They are easier to setup, have longer range, and use technologies originally developed for cellular telephony. Qualcomm’s new mesh networking reference design will help build new commercial products faster.
Intel Core X-Series CPUs
With renewed competition from arch-rival AMD, Intel has announced a new line of “enthusiast” CPUs called Core X, which closes the performance gap and offer an extreme X cores version which should become the new speed leader. More importantly, Intel has adjusted its prices to the new reality, with deep cuts at every level of performance where it needs to compete. The consumer wins. PS: keep an eye out for the 8th generation of Intel Core processors — they should get a nice speed boost.
Acer Predator Triton 700 gaming laptop
Acer is among the first OEMs to build a thin and powerful gaming laptop around NVIDIA’s Max-Q design. The ACER Predator Triton 700 is a powerful machine, with a fast Intel Gen 7 processor, NVIDIA’s 1080 GTX graphics chip, up to 32GB of RAM and two PCIe SSD. Add to that support for 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, 1x Thunderbolt 3, 1x full-size HDMI, 1x DisplayPort and Killer networking. Despite this power, the chassis is only 0.74” thick. The only downside is its price of $2999+.
ASUS Vivo S Laptop
The ASUS Vivo S is a laptop designed for the average user who wants a good computing experience. To achieve this, ASUS has built a computer with good looks: there’s an aluminum design (17.9mm thin), and an 80% display to body ratio for the 1080p/FHD screen. For games and creative apps, there’s an optional discrete graphics chip, and there’s a fingerprint reader built-in for convenience. The best part: it starts at $499.
ASUS Zenbook 3 Deluxe
In the 14” ultrathin laptop space, ASUS hits hard with the Zenbook 3 Deluxe, a laptop that made some noise at CES, but that is set to ship in the next few weeks. With a 12.9mm thickness (and 2.42 lbs), it should be the thinnest 14” laptop when it becomes available for sale at a starting price of $1199. It comes fully loaded with up to Core i7, 1TB PCIe SSD, and Thunderbolt 3 support.
Gigabyte Brix Gaming VR PC
Desktop Gaming PCs are mostly huge towers, but it doesn’t have to be that way. The Gigabyte’s Brix Gaming PC is small (110 x 110 x 220 mm) but can be configured to be VR-capable (GeForce 1060+Core i7). Additionally, it comes with a lot of ports: 2x USB-C 3.1, 3x USB 3.0, 3x mini-DP, 1x HDMI. There’s integrated WiFi and Gb Ethernet, support for SATA and M.2 SSDs, two memory slots. Price remains the unknown, but we love the idea.
MSI GS63VR 15” thin gaming laptop
MSI’s GS63VR laptop is a 15” mobile gaming rig that is compact (17.7mm thick, 4.2 Lbs) but packs a punch at the same time. It has a powerful NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics processor and a 120Hz HDR display that has a 3ms response time. The compactness is made possible by using an impressive heat pipe cooling system that is shared among CPU and GPU units to dissipate heat efficiently.
ARM Cortex A55 CPU Core Design
ARM has announced a new graphics processor, along with two new CPU cores that will start to appear in many 2018 smartphones. The Cortex A55 CPU Core is probably the one that will have the most impact on the everyday life of Billions of phone users. The Cortex A55 is the piece of silicon that runs your phone most of the time: when it is in standby mode. The new power optimizations it has will bring power efficiency to a new level, and everybody loves to have a little more battery life.
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