Sony has announced a refresh for of its VAIO line of laptops. While the Z series, S series and E series will all receive CPU upgrades along with various other component updates, the C series changes are limited to updates of the cosmetic variety.

The Z series will now offer built-in LTE mobile broadband and a new Carbon Fiber Silver exterior as options. The new laptop will equipped with a Intel’s 2nd generation Core processors ranging from the Core i5 up to the Core i7 and RAID 0 solid state drives (SSDs). Prices will start at $1,949.99.

The S series get the new processors, with both the 13-inch and 15-inch models offering up to Core i7 CPUs. Hybrid Graphics comes courtesy of either an AMD Radeon HD 6470M with 512MB of VRAM, or an AMD Radeon HD 6630M with 1GM of VRAM.

Lastly, both 14- and 15-inch C series models will receive a his and hers facelift. For the ladies – or maybe guys looking to challenge traditional gender stereotypes – Sony has introduced a new Kaleidoscope Pink (to be known as Elegant Flower in some markets) that features an engraved and textured look. For those preferring the look of classic black there’s also a new Geometric Black (aka Modern Geometric) that Sony describes as “60’s retro meets the Matrix.”

Today Samsung unveiled a Series 5 Chromebook with Intel’s bugdet processor. The unknown Celeron CPU in 2nd gen Chrome OS-based mini laptop replaces the Atom N570 chip used early. Samsung said the battery life will be comparable to the original Atom-powered Chromebook and that computing performance will be significantly increased.

The new Series 5 Chromebook design gets a new matte lid finish instead of the old glossy one. Samsung Chromebook retained its old 12.1-inch screen size and 16GB of internal storage, as well as Wi-Fi and optional 3G connectivity.

It’s scheduled for release in second quarter with a price of $399 for the Wi-Fi model and $449 for the 3G version.

Asus has released the Eee PC Flare netbook design which is successor of the Seashell look. Now the Eee PC Flare models have chiclet-style keyboards and provide various color choices. Display sizes of the Flare netbooks vary between 10.1 and 12.1 inches. Although we didn’t know that the recently leaked AMD-based Asus Eee PC 1225, Intel-based 1025 and X101 were Flare, their images suggest that they belong to the new design line.

Asus’ Flare netbooks are expected to be showcased on the 2012 CES show and to hit the market soon after that.

The CTL MB40U is a new Intel Core i-based laptop which features Ubuntu Linux operating system instead of Windows.

The 14.1-inch MB40U is equipped with Ubuntu 11.10, which includes with a wide range of free applications. The laptop is configurable with Core i processors ranging from i3-2330 to Core i7-2630QM. Customers can also choose 2 – 8GB of DDR3 memory, and up to 500GB HDD or up to a 512GB SSD. There’s no info on optical drive in the specs sheet. Intel’s HD integrated GPU is the only graphics choice.

The 4.85-pound laptop has a screen resolution of 1366×768 pixels and the battery life is rated at five hours of typical usage.
CTL’s MB40U includes a 1.3MP camera with mic, stereo speakers, HDMI and VGA ports, three USB connectors, a media card reader, eSATA support, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Gigabit LAN, and optional Bluetooth.

The starting price for the CTL MB40U 14.1″ Ubuntu laptop is $449.

Great news for Samsung lovers. This Korean company has announced their first ultrabook. The 13.3-inch Series 5 ultrabook is 14.9mm thin and weighs 1.4kg. It’s powered by Intel’s Core i5 ULV processor and comes with a 128GB SSD drive or a 500GB/16GB HDD/SSD hybrid, with up to 8GB of RAM and Intel HD integrated graphics onboard.

Samsung’s ultrabook features ExpressCache technology, enabling booting from hibernation in “7 seconds” and to wake up from sleep mode in just “2 seconds”.

The Series 5 ultrabook will be available in South Korea by the end of this month. It will be priced from $1,125 to $1,298. There’s no info on pricing and availability in other countries.

Also, Samsung has relased a similar 14-inch laptop. Sammy Hub reports that it’s an ultrabook, but it doesn’t match standard ultrabook specifications. As you know, ultrabooks have a screen diagonal of up to 13.3 inches. Measuring 20.9mm, it’s slightly thicker than maximal 20mm for ultrabooks and weighs 1.8kg, breaking 1.4kg ultrabook limit.

The 14″ Series 5 will be priced from $1,167 to $1,341.

The new ViewSonic ViewPad 7e offered on Amazon has the 7-inch screen size, Android 2.3 OS, ARM A8 1GHz CPU, 3MP and 0.3MP cameras and that famous $199 price tag.

The ViewSonic 7e model includes only 4GB of internal storage 8GB and lacks a GPS receiver, HDMI output, the multitouch screen on the 7e is at 800-by-600 pixels.

The product page on the manufacturer’s site still doesn’t exist and Amazon doesn’t say is if the 7e has access to Android Market. The retailer only says the slate offers Amazon App Store for Android, so a lack of Android Market access could be an explanation for the low price.

The ViewSonic ViewPad 7e, also listed as V7e, sports Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi, a Micro SD card slot, and USB.

Below the screen, it has four physical Android buttons. The offered model has white front and back with black sides.

Full specifications of the Asus Eee PC Slider SL101 Android tablet with a physical slide-out keyboard have been published today. The Asus Eee Slider SL101 runs Android 3.1 Honeycomb OS on a 10.1-inch multi-tiouch IPS display with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels. The keyboard is QWERTY with isle style keys, but with no trackpad.

Tegra’s dual-core CPU is clocked at 1.2GHz and is accompanied by 1GB of RAM and 16GB or 32GB of internal Flash memory storage. The included 25Wh Li-Polymer battery in the 0.68-inch thin 2.1-pound tablet provides up to 8 hours of run time.

The SL101 weighs 2.1 pounds. It equipped with Wi-Fi card, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, USB 2.0 and mini HDMI ports, Micro SD card reader, G-sensor. Its front camera has a 1.2-megapixel sensor, while the rear cam, actually located on the lid of the keyboard, is 5MP.

Toshiba has released the Qosmio X770 gaming laptop, featuring a 17.3″ display and a brand new design.

The Toshiba Qosmo X770 is equipped with the Intel Core i7-2630QM quad-core CPU with up to 2.9GHz clock speed, Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M discrete 1.5GB video, 8GB of DDR3 memory, dual storage including a 500GB hybrid solid state drive and a 750GB HDD, and a Blu-ray combo optical drive.

Other features include dual built-in webcams for 3D video recording, Harman/Kardon speaker system and Dolby audio technology, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, and Gigabit LAN connections, a single USB 3.0 and three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI and VGA outputs, and a multi-in-one card reader.

The laptop runs Windows 7 Home Premium OS and will be available soon with a base price of $1,850.

The Dell Alienware M18x gaming laptop is now available.

The price range start from $2,000 up to $6,000. The 18.4-inch M18x laptop features 2nd Generation Intel Core quad-core processor, up to a factory-overclocked i7 2920XM Extreme edition at 4GHz, and single and dual AMD/ATI and Nvidia video card options. Buyers can choose between the single and dual 1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M or dual-only 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6970M.

RAM can be expanded up to 32GB, while maximum for faster 1600MHz memory is 16GB. There are also various storage options, 750GB of traditional HDD or a 256GB SDD. Both HDD and SDD storage capacity can be doubled, since the Alienware M18x has two internal storage bays. Additionally, there’s a single-unit 500GB hybrid HDD/SSD option. Optical drive options are a DVD burner, Blu-ray combo drive and Blu-ray writer.

The full HD display with high-end audio experience is provided by a built-in 2.1 speaker system with subwoofer, 5.1- or 7.1-channel output, and Klipsch technology.

The 18.4-inch M18x laptop features 3MP web camera, Wi-Fi, Gigabit LAN, Bluetooth, two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA/USB 2.0 connector, and a 9-in-1 media card reader.

When it comes to design, the 12-pound M18x has a distinctive anodized aluminum chassis in black or red color. The laptop runs Windows 7 OS. The preliminary ship date for the Alienware M18x is 05/26/2011.

Asustek has revealed details of the updated version of the 14-inch Asus U43SD, which now includes 2nd Gen Intel “Sandy Bridge” processors.

The Asus U43SD sports a brown bamboo exterior with brushed aluminum parts and equipped with a Intel Core i5-2410M or i3-2310M processor and Nvidia’s Optimus switchable graphics solution which utilizes both the 1GB GeForce GT 520M dedicated video card and Intel GMA HD integrated graphics. Other components also upgraded: are DDR3 memory – up to 8GB, a HDD with up to 750GB of storage space, a DVD writer, and an 8-cell battery for “up to 10 hours” of autonomy.

Regarding the 14″ display, it has a resolution of 1366-by-768 pixels and LED backlighting.

Other notable features of the 4.7-pound U43SD are a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth and USB 3.0 in select models, HDMI port, and a 4-in-1 media card reader.

Operating System:
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Basic

No word about pricing and shipping date yet.