Subscribe

Expect powerful laptops this December

Lauren Kate Rawlins
By Lauren Kate Rawlins
Berlin, 05 Sept 2016
The Lenovo YogaBook features virtual keys that disappear to transform the surface into a modern-day 'etch-n-sketch'.
The Lenovo YogaBook features virtual keys that disappear to transform the surface into a modern-day 'etch-n-sketch'.

A number of new, powerful and ultra-portable laptops revealed at IFA 2016 should be available in time for the festive season this year.

Laptop manufacturers continue to release new products, despite global notebook shipments declining. Global market research firm TrendForce reported in May that shipments for the first quarter of 2016 fell 19% from the last quarter and declined 7.3% year-on-year. PC shipments have also been reported as decreasing this year.

However, the laptops on display at Europe's largest consumer technology fair, IFA in Berlin, feature innovative designs or have niche capabilities the companies hope will captivate the market.

Convertible keyboard

Lenovo introduced three new devices to its Yoga range at the show: the Yoga Book, Yoga 910 Convertible Laptop and Yoga Tab 3 Plus Android Tablet.

The Yoga Book is a thin, 'book-like' laptop with a stylus that can also write on paper. The keyboard folds back on itself so that the device can be used as a tablet.

The keyboard is a large touch pad that is back lit to display the keys. With no physical keys, the touch pad can be transformed into what Lenovo calls the 'create pad', which users can draw or write directly on to.

It has a 10.1-inch display and weighs only 690g.

Gaming beast

Acer released a laptop for gamers that features a curved display and a full-sized PC keyboard, including a removable number pad that when flipped over becomes a trackpad.

The Predator 21 X has a 21-inch display with 2 560x1 080 resolution and two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 graphics cards. It also comes fitted with a Tobii eye-tracking system which allows gamers to simply look at a target and fire with the space bar, instead of using keys or the trackpad.

It weighs a hefty 8kg.

On the opposite end of the scale, Acer showcased a laptop that measures less than 10mm when closed. The ultrathin laptop has a seventh-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 256GB SSD, 8GB of RAM, two USB type C ports and a 13.3-inch display.

The Acer Swift 7 weighs only 1.1kg.

Other laptops on display include the Asus Zenbook 3, the Asus Transformer 3 Pro, the Acer ChromeBook R13, and Acer Spin 7.

HP concentrates on PC

While most tech companies launched portable computer offerings at IFA, HP decided to reveal two desktop computer systems: the HP Elite Slice and HP Pavilion Wave.

The Pavilion Wave features sixth-generation Intel Core i Quad processors, with storage up to 1TB SSD or 2TB HDD. The tube-like design is optimised for sound, with the company partnering with speaker manufacturer Bang & Olufsen to create the sound experience. The computer can support two 4K displays.

It is not known when these computers and laptops will be available in SA, or how much they will cost.