HP Announces EliteBook Laptops with On/Off Sure View Privacy Screens

On Thursday, HP introduced adjustable privacy screens for the EliteBook 840 as well as the EliteBook 1040 notebooks. These are aimed at business users concerned about visual hacking and disclosing sensitive information to onlookers (somethin…

Eurocom Sky E9E2 Laptop: Intel Core i7, Two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080/1070 GPUs in SLI, Optional 120 Hz Display Panel

Eurocom has released one of the world’s first laptops featuring two NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1080/1070 GPUs, along with one of Intel’s latest Core i7 CPUs for good measure. The Sky E9E2 machine is designed primarily for gamers, but it can also be equipped with up to 64 GB DRAM, up to 6 TB of storage and even optional 120 Hz display panels. Given the high-performance goals of the system, it not only costs a lot but also comes in a thick chassis designed to fit 17.3″ screens as well.

The Eurocom Sky X9E2 notebook is based on the Intel Z170 PCH and supports socketed Skylake-S processors (Intel Core i7-6700K, i5-6600K and i7-6700 options are available) that can be overclocked. The machine can fit up to four SO-DIMMs for a total of 64 GB of DDR4 memory, although maximum XMP support isn’t directly listed. For graphics, the X9E2 uses one or two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070/1080 graphics processors in an MXM form-factor, which have 120-190 W TDP per card, but the system promises to deliver desktop-class performance in mobile form-factor. Installing a rather hot GPU into modern gaming laptop chassis should not be a problem in general, but Eurocom’s Sky X9E2 is among the first machines to integrate up to two Pascal graphics processors with a potential total TDP of <380 W. To cool the CPU as well as the GPU(s), the portable PC uses a sophisticated cooling system with multiple heat pipes as well as three huge blower fans.

For storage, the Eurocom Sky X9E2 can integrate up to two 2.5”/9.5mm SSDs or HDDs (in consumer land, that’s 4 TB of storage) as well as up to two M.2-2280 NVMe SSDs (another two more terabytes). In addition, the laptop has 6-in-1 card reader as well as two Thunderbolt 3.0 ports (which automatically suggests support for two USB Type-C ports with 10 Gbps transfer rate) and five USB 3.0 connectors. For connectivity, the Sky X9E2 has two Killer Networking E2400 GbE controllers as well as one M.2-2230 Wi-Fi 802.11ac with Bluetooth controller.

When it comes to display options, end-users can choose between an IPS FHD panel, an AHVA FHD panel with 120 Hz refresh rate as well as an IPS UHD panel. Optionally, the machine also supports NVIDIA’s G-Sync technology. Moreover, the laptop has several display outputs (HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 and Thunderbolt 3) in a bid to support NVIDIA’s SurroundView capability. For audio the PC has Sound Blaster X-Fi MB5 chip with 7.1-channel audio outputs as well as integrated 2 W speakers and a 2.5 W subwoofer.

The Sky X9E2 desktop replacement comes with either a 330 W or 660 W PSU (the latter is required when its spec is maxed out and the system is equipped with two GPUs), an 8 cell Li-Ion 89 Wh battery (battery life from zero to some depending on configuration), weighs 5.5 kilograms (12.1 lbs) and is 47.2 mm (1.88 inch) thick. The starting price of the DTR machine from Eurocom is $2499, and can push much nearer five digits when maxed out.

Gallery: Eurocom Sky E9E2 Laptop: Intel Core i7, Two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080/1070 GPUs in SLI, Optional 120 Hz Display Panel

Xiaomi Unveils Mi Notebook Air, from $525

Today Xiaomi has introduced its first pair of notebooks and unvieled the Mi Notebook Air family. As the name suggests, these are aimed head first into Apple’s Air line of notebooks, albeit at a very different price point. The laptops feature 12.5” and 13.3” full HD displays and are based on Intel’s Core M as well as Core i5 microprocessors. The price of the ultra-thin all-metal notebooks starts from 3499 CNY ($525, although Xiaomi usually quotes prices including China tax, so $446 perhaps), which could make them very competitive in various markets. As with most Xiaomi products, they will be available in China first.

Xiaomi, which is known primarily for its smartphones business and superstar VP, Hugo Barra, positions its laptops as integrated parts of its Mi Ecosystem (which includes smartphones, an Android TV STB, tablets, power banks, headphones, a wrist band and even an air purifier). Their design resembles that of other devices from Xiaomi and uses all-metal silver and gold enclosures. Both notebooks are made by Tian Mi, a partner of Xiaomi, and will run Microsoft Windows 10 Home.

The entry-level laptop from Xiaomi is the Mi Notebook Air 12.5”, which is powered by the dual-core Intel Core m3-6Y30, featuring the Skylake microarchitecture as well as the ninth-generation of Intel’s integrated graphics (Gen 9, HD Graphics 515 with 24 EUs). The CPU is rated at a 1.1/2.2 GHz core frequency (base/turbo), 4 MB of last level cache, and a 7W thermal design power (normally this CPU is rated at 4.5W, but the 1.1 GHz in the spec sheet implies that it is running in its 7W cTDP Up mode – this isn’t a surprise given the size of the device. The laptop comes with 4 GB of LPDDR3-1866 RAM, 128 GB SATA SSD, 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 1 MP webcam, two microphones, custom AKG speakers and so on. It’s not stated if the design uses dual channel memory at this point, and it would be interesting to find out. The system sports one USB Type-C port for charging and display output, one USB 3.0 Type-A port as well as one HDMI connector.

The Mi Notebook Air 12.5” features a display panel with 1920×1080 resolution, 170° wide viewing angle, 300 nit brightness as well as 600:1 contrast ratio. Despite the low memory, the main advantage of the Mi Notebook Air 12.5” over its bigger brother is its 11.5 hours rated battery life and low weight of 1.07 . From many points of view, the 12.5” laptop from Xiaomi attempts to combine the key advantages of Apple’s MacBook and MacBook Air (at least, from hardware perspective). It comes with Intel Core M, a common resolution screen, long battery life as well as thin-and-light form factor (like the MacBook). However, the system costs starting from 3999 yuan ($525), which means that it is more affordable than Apple’s MacBook Air.

The next up is the more powerful Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 13.3”, which is based on the dual-core Intel Core i5-6200U (2.3/2.8 GHz, 3MB LLC, 15 W TDP, Intel HD Graphics 520, etc.) and is equipped with NVIDIA’s GeForce 940 MX discrete GPU featuring a 1 GB GDDR5 memory buffer. Xiaomi says that by equipping its 13.3” laptop with a standalone graphics processor it enables higher performance in games when compared with iGPU. The notebook sports 8 GB of DDR4-2133 memory, a 256 GB NVMe SSD with PCIe 3.0 x4 interface (with up to 1500 MB/s read speed, which means that they are running the PCH in low-power mode and reduce PCIe clock-rates), dual band 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 1 MP webcam, two microphones, custom AKG speakers and so on. The laptop uses USB-C for charging and display output, two USB-A 3.0 ports and one HDMI connector.

The larger laptop from Xiaomi features a better display panel than the smaller model. Despite the similar resolution, viewing angles and brightness, the 13.3” notebook has a rated 800:1 contrast ratio as well as 72% NTSC color gamut (vs 50% on the 12.5” model). However, the bigger and improved screen comes at a price: the Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 13.3” is 14.8 mm thick and it weighs 1.28 kilograms. The laptop is equipped with a 40 Wh battery (compared to 37 Wh on the smaller model), which gives it up to 9.5 hours of rated battery life. The faster CPU, discrete GPU, faster RAM, speedier SSD and better display effect the pricing of Xiaomi’s 13.3” notebook: the model costs 4999 yuan, or $750 (or $640, if that original CNY price includes China tax).

Xiaomi will only sell its initial family of laptops in China at this time, similar to its smartphone strategy. 

Gallery: Xiaomi Unveils Mi Notebook Air: Affordable 12.5” and 13.3” Laptops