Open, close – notebooks are all the same? Not at all. Because this year there are laptops with fresh ideas and a lot of performance to be seen at the CES technology fair.
3D image without heavy 3D glasses? And the latest video games in full optical quality on the notebook? If you look at the new laptop releases at the CES technology fair (until January 8th), you will see even more trends. Some might need a bigger backpack soon. An overview.
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More power thanks to new graphics cards
The difference at the booth is striking. The new generation of gaming notebooks with Nvidia’s new Geforce GTX 40 series needs significantly less power with more frames per second and better display.
According to Nvidia, two things make this possible: firstly, the new chip architecture called Ada Lovelace. And on the other hand Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS 3). Put simply, this means increased performance and more frames per second with the help of artificial intelligence.
And because the new laptop graphics chips consume less power than the previous generation, more powerful chips now also fit into slimmer computers.
Innovations in laptop screens
18 inches was once popular for gaming notebooks, then it was gone – and now it’s back. 17 inches is somehow 2022. Alienware and Acer each show an 18-inch model with Geforce RTX. In contrast to the past, the large notebooks are now a bit lighter, even if the Acer Predator Helios 18 is not a lightweight at just under 3.25 kilos.
A return to the old screen sizes as well: the 16:9 format is increasingly giving way to 16:10 – so there is more vertical space again. And why the new sizes? There are no clear answers at the fair. Some say: Laptops that are too small are impractical for many in the home office. Others say: Larger displays of good quality or with OLED technology are now affordable.
More OLEDs
The advantages of self-illuminating OLED displays for notebooks are actually clear. More color, better contrasts, deeper black representation and – depending on the application – also less power consumption. The problem so far: “It has to develop into affordable areas first,” says an industry representative. That’s about it now. Whether Lenovo, Acer, LG or Asus and also the gaming brands – all have one or more models with OLED displays in the trade fair range.
Lenovo is showing two laptops with two screens at CES. The Yoga Book 9i consists of two displays connected by a 360-degree hinge with a built-in speaker. The device can be used either as a double screen, as a laptop with a virtual keyboard and one and a half screens.
The Thinkbook Plus Twist takes a different approach. The notebook has a dual screen – a 4K OLED display on the inside and a color E Ink display on the outside. This means that, for example, you can type or read on the go in a very energy-saving manner. A vertical rotary hinge allows you to switch between the two sides of the display.
3D without glasses
Spatial depth on a flat screen – some people still know that from the mobile console Nintendo 3DS. With the Acer Predator Helios 300, two cameras above the screen follow the user’s eyes and the screen creates a 3D image using cross-sectional images. You can only see this if you are sitting directly in front of the computer, but the effect is quite impressive. You don’t have to wear annoying 3D glasses either.
The ProArt Studiobook from Asus also uses this 3D technology with eye tracking. Here, however, the focus of the laptop presentation at CES is more on imparting knowledge or virtual shopping applications.
Laptop Manufacturers Highlight Sustainability at CES
A big word, but there are also concrete examples of success for recycling or the more careful use of resources. For example Acer’s Vero series, consisting of a Windows notebook Aspire Vero and Chromebook Vero. One third of the chassis consists of recycled plastic – post-consumer plastic, i.e. from used and discarded plastic objects. The result is a sleek, elegant gray chassis that feels tactile.
According to Acer, future models should also have keyboard keys made of sea plastic. Another plus: The case can be opened with a normal Phillips screwdriver if you want to replace the SSD storage or RAM. Lenovo and Asus are also aggressively using recycled materials – both in the devices – Lenovo uses recycled magnesium and aluminum, for example – and in the packaging. Renewable and compostable raw materials are used here.