Disclaimer: I am being seeded with the Dell XPS 12 for a 3 part review. For the first part, I will talk about the unboxing and design of the Dell XPS 12.
The Dell XPS 12 was announced back in 30th August 2012 at IFA 2012. Currently the base model is retailing for S$1,828. If you intend to get it from Dell Online Store, you might need to wait for 20 working days due to overwhelming demand.
Been waiting to order the new Apple iMac 27″ (Late 2012) since it was announced back in 23rd October 2012 to replace my 4 years old desktop. Apple Online Store (Singapore) made the new iMacs available for order on the 30th November 2012. I placed my order on the very day using my brother’s name from the Education Store since he is still a student in National University of Singapore (NUS).
I maxed out the specifications for the 27″ iMac except for the 756GB SSD option because it is way too expensive. After max specifications, the iMac itself cost S$4,349 and I bought Apple Care which is an additional S$218. In total, it cost S$4,567.
Aftershock is a Singapore-based company that makes gaming laptop, so unless you are into gaming, you probably will not heard of them.
About Aftershock
On the 30th October 2012, Lenovo announced a new range of convertible devices that is designed for Windows 8. They called it convertible devices instead of laptops/notebooks because those devices are more than just a simple laptop/notebook.
IdeaPad Yoga
The IdeaPad Yoga 13 and IdeaPad Yoga 11 allows the screen to be rotated though a 360° angle and switch between laptop and tablet mode. The hinge has been stressed test though a 25,000 times rotation.
At this morning event, Apple refreshes the iMac, Mac mini and iPad lineup and introduces 2 new prodcts, the 13″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display and iPad mini.
Also Apple seems to be dropping the “the new iPad” name from iPad and it is now called “iPad with Retina Display” which is similar to the MacBook Pro’s “MacBook Pro with Retina Display”.
In my previous blog post on Raspberry Pi, I mentioned that I can’t seem to find any cases for Raspberry Pi on Elements 14, but now it seems that they do carry it.
I bought my Raspberry Pi – Clear Case from Michael Cheng (as he bought an extra case from Elements 14). I paid S$16 for it (including shipping and 7% GST).
Before I start this review on the HP Envy 4, I would like to highlight that there are 2 models to the HP Envy 4 and they are quite different. The model I am reviewing is the HP Envy 4 (1035TX) which is an Ultrabook, while the entry level HP Envy 4 (1026TU) is what HP call them the Sleekbook. The HP Envy 4 Ultrabook (1035TX) is retailing for S$1,299 while the HP Envy 4 Sleekbook (1026TU) is retailing for S$1,099.
The price different of S$200, gets you 8GB of RAM, a dedicated graphics card (AMD Radeon HD 7670M) and 32GB SLC mSATA SSD. It is that 32GB SLC mSATA SSD together with Intel Smart Response & Rapid Start Technology that differentiate the laptop from a Sleebook to an Ultrabook.
Raspberry Pi is a US$25/US$35 (S$31/S$43) no frills mini computer.
The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. Itâs a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video.
Last week, Dell announced the Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook as a new member to the XPS Ultrabook family. The Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook is already available in the Singapore market with a starting price of S$1,399.
Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook Speficitaions
If you are trying to get a laptop/notebook this year, you may have come across the buzz word, Intel Ultrabook. While the buzz word is not entirely new (it was announced at Computex in 2011), it has become more mainstream as OEM manufacturers such as Dell, HP, Samsung, Asus, Acer are producing more and more Ultrabook models.
So what is an Ultrabook? An Ultrabook is a set of laptop/notebook specifications set by Intel to the OEM manufacturers to follow and if they adhere to these set of specifications, their product can be classify as an Ultrabook. It is essentially a sub-category of laptop/notebook.
