I'd been waiting to order the new Apple iMac 27-inch (Late 2012), announced on 23rd October, to replace my four-year-old desktop. Apple's Online Store opened orders on 30th November, and I placed mine that day under my brother's name.
Aftershock is a Singapore-based company making gaming laptops, so unless you're into gaming you've probably not heard of them. Based in Singapore, the team of hardware junkies, gamers, and IT professionals builds custom gaming notebooks aimed at the highest performance.
On 30th October 2012, Lenovo announced a new range of convertible devices designed for Windows 8. It calls them convertibles, not laptops, because they're more than ordinary notebooks. The IdeaPad Yoga 13 and Yoga 11 rotate their screens 360 degrees.
At this morning's event, Apple refreshed the iMac, Mac mini, and iPad, and introduced two new products: the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display and the iPad mini. Apple also seems to be dropping the 'new iPad' name.
In my earlier Raspberry Pi post, I noted I couldn't find any cases on Element 14, but they now stock them. I bought my Raspberry Pi Clear Case from Michael Cheng, who'd ordered a spare from Element 14, paying S$16.
Before this HP Envy 4 review, note there are two quite different models. I'm reviewing the HP Envy 4 (1035TX), an Ultrabook, while the entry-level 1026TU is what HP calls a Sleekbook. The Envy 4 Ultrabook retails for S$1,299.
The Raspberry Pi is a no-frills mini computer costing US$25 or US$35. Credit-card sized, it plugs into your TV and keyboard, and handles much of what a desktop does, from spreadsheets and word processing to games, and plays HD video.
Last week, Dell announced the XPS 14 Ultrabook, a new member of the XPS Ultrabook family. It's already available in Singapore, starting at S$1,399. The XPS 14 is built from machined aluminium in silver, with a silicone base.
If you're shopping for a laptop this year, you've likely encountered the buzzword Intel Ultrabook. Though not new, having been announced at Computex 2011, it's gone mainstream as OEMs like Dell, HP, Samsung, Asus, and Acer churn out more models.
I attended the Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 launch at BoConcept in Paragon Shopping Centre. Two products debuted: the headline IdeaCentre A720 at S$2,699 and the IdeaPad Y480 at S$1,499. Lenovo bills the A720 as the industry's slimmest 27-inch all-in-one.
The Twelve South BookArc, at S$65, was my second birthday present from Li Xiang. It holds the MacBook Air upright, freeing desk space when you're not using its screen as a secondary monitor, with a gap for the power cable.
When I joined mig33 on 1st February 2010, I received a MacBook Pro 15-inch (Mid 2009) with a 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo and 4GB RAM. Over the years it slowed as apps and the OS grew more demanding.
I got to try the Alienware M14X, and my first impression was how heavy it is, at 2.9kg. But this is Alienware, whose gaming laptops were never meant to be light. The base model starts at S$1,899.
I spent about a week with the HP Folio 13, my first time with a Windows-based Ultrabook, and came away impressed. Normally, when friends ask for a MacBook Air alternative on Windows, I'd tell them to buy a MacBook Air.
I hadn't seen the Bluelounge Cool Feet sold in Singapore until yesterday at Challenger in IMM. Mine came as part of the Notebook Kit I bought from the Design Museum Shop for S$31.05. Challenger IMM sells it for S$18.90.
Mac OS X Lion is finally out, costing US$29.99 in the Mac App Store, I was downloading it at 11MB/s last night. For slower connections, it's also available on a USB thumb drive via the Apple Store Singapore for S$88.
Apple has refreshed its iMac, bumping the processor up to Sandy Bridge while keeping the same unibody design. The last refresh, in October 2010, moved to Core i3, i5, and i7. New are quad-core Sandy Bridge i5 and i7 chips.
Li Xiang and I attended HP's Everybody On blogger event at The Gallery in Hyatt Hotel, where five new consumer products were shown, including Pavilion dv4, dv6, g4 laptops, the TouchSmart610 PC and the x2301 micro-thin LED monitor.
Apple has refreshed the MacBook Pro, bumping processor speeds while keeping the unibody design. The entry 13-inch gets a 2nd-gen Core i5, higher models a Core i7, all with Intel HD Graphics 3000 plus dedicated AMD Radeon graphics.
I was invited to HP Singapore's 40th Anniversary at Dempsey's The House. I forgot my camera, but Joe's blog has photos. The food was fantastic and Muttons hosted hilariously. To celebrate, there's 40 Days of Christmas with HP.
My boss brought an 11.6-inch MacBook Air with 64GB SSD from the US for a business partner. Apple Singapore charges S$1,488 versus US$999 there. Since it isn't mine I didn't power it on, just compared its size.
Apple has quietly refreshed the Mac Mini just as iPhone 4 pre-orders opened today, to little fanfare. The new model gains an aluminium unibody, an SD card reader, an HDMI port and upgraded graphics.