At last. Microsoft have just announced the name of the next version of Windows and to everyone’s shock it’s going to be called Windows 10. I’ve been following the live blog at The Verge and hundreds of tweets coming out of the event and it’s already clear that Microsoft is going to be focusing on business with Windows 10. A familiar look, security and management is being promoted which, for those of us into touch, is a worrying start. As was previously rumored, Store-based Universal apps will be sandboxed and […]

The HP Stream 7 and HP Stream 8 have been launched and the cheapest version will cost just $99.Both models come with just 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage . That’s all I’m going to tell you right now. What can I say? Having had a bad experience with 1GB RAM on the Toshiba Encore 2 WT8 I just can’t get excited. I’m also confused about why manufacturers think this is a good idea? The platforms are likely to have been developed, tested and approved by Intel leaving HP […]

New ground is being broken in the Windows laptop world today as HP announces the HP Stream 11 and HP Stream 13 low-cost Windows 8 laptops. Built around the Baytrail-M platforms we see an many recent Chromebooks (and possibly using exactly the same motherboard) these Windows laptops will go head-to-head with Chromebooks such as the ASUS C300. In order to sweeten the deal, which to many is already going to look attractive to many mainstream users, HP have announced that the Stream 13 comes with free 3G data. 200MB from […]

The beautiful ASUS Zenbook Z305, powered with the new Intel Core M CPU, will launch at €799 according to NotebookItalia. This 1.2KG Ultrabook with a 2K display, 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD should be available in December. We always though that ASUS would break into a new price point with this superlight but 799 euro (which is likely to translate to $799 pre-tax in the USA) is better than we expected.

Here’s something for you to read with your coffee this Sunday morning. John Heckendon has bought and reviewed the Toshiba CB35-B3340 Chromebook with Full HD display. The review is very positive but is also correct to highlight that the Baytrail platform isn’t the best performing. John puts the CB35 up against the Dell 11 which runs a Haswell-architehture CPU. The CB35 is currently the number 5 best selling laptop on Amazon.com right now and there are 7 user reviews up there too. It really looks like this is going to be […]

This, my lightbook-loving friends, is going to be a big seller in Q4 of 2014. The Toshiba CB35-B3340 is a 13.3-inch laptop with a full-HD screen, SSD, Skull Candy speakers, a 51 Wh battery and it weighs just 3 pounds – 1.36KG. The price? $330. It’s a nice product for entry-level consumers but it’s a problem for Microsoft.   The Toshiba CB35-B3340 is a Chromebook and Chromebooks based on a Baytrail-M SoC with just 16GB of SSD are cheap to produce but this one from Toshiba is well-designed, has a good keyboard […]

The new Toshiba CB35 models are up on Amazon.com and the full-HD version running on a Baytrail-M Celeron with 4GB is going for a very reasonable $329.99. The 1366×768 version with 2GB is $249.99. Not only is this (non-touchscreen) full HD version an interesting proposition but there’s a nice design, good keyboard and 9 hours battery life. Hopefully there’s the same 52Wh battery in this version. As the 1366×768 pixel version is quoted as having 11 hours, it’s likely. AC-Wifi is included (don’t accept anything less for 2015!) and all ports […]

Watch this figure: 18%. It’s the percentage of sub $300 laptops sold in the USA in the third quarter that were Chromebooks. Why is it significant? Because that was the ‘back to school’ period and if the Q4 figure is anything less than 18% you’ll know who’s buying Chromebooks from retail channels in the USA.