Dell’s XPS 13 ultrabook just received a significant performance upgrade and enhanced asthetics.

The new XPS 13 now uses Intel’s 8th gen Quad-core i5-8250 and i7-8550 CPUs. The CPUs have a baseline TDP of 15W, but can be configured for to up to 25W. Dell states that the new cooling solution in the new XPS 13 can handle up to 27W, so it’s likely that the CPUs had their TDPs increased accordingly. Despite the robust cooling, the weight of the is kept at  just 2.67 lbs.

The Dell XPS packs a display that guarantees a peak brightness of 400nits. It covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut and 72% of the Adobe RGB color gamut. Full HD and 4K [...]

For all the readers living in the United States, Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you get all the food, drink and of course plenty of Black Friday shopping after!

Today and for the next 48 hours, we’ll be scouring the internet for the best Black Friday deals on technology, computer hardware, and other generally awesome deals you may want to check out. We’ll keep this post updated with all the latest deals, so check back often!

 

CPCR Black Friday Picks Laptops MSI GL62M 7RDX-NE1050i5 15.6″ (Core i5 7300HQ, GTX 1050, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD) – $599 After $50 Rebate MSI GS73VR STEALTH PRO-060 17.3″ (Core i7-7700HQ GTX 1070 8G MAX Q [...]

HP has released the world’s first 2-in-1 convertible mobile workstation. The HP ZBook X2 aims to bring high performance into a versatile form factor that’s also familiar to professionals already proficient to drawing tablets.

The ZBook X2’s design borrows much from today’s drawing tablets. The ZBook X2 has a column of function buttons on either side of the display, much like many high-end drawing tabs do. An adjustable kickstand at the rear lets the user’s hands rest in a comfortable position.

To provide the best experience for artists and designers, HP has opted for a 14-inch 4K IPS panel that covers 100% of the Adobe [...]

For those waiting patiently for the latest installment in the highly popular Assassin’s Creed franchise, Assassin’s Creed Origins, Ubisoft recently released system requirements for the PC version of the game so you can make preparations to play when it launches on October 27.

Assassin’s Creed Origins which will be set in ancient Egypt is expected to feature the largest worlds in the Assassin’s Creed franchise.

MINIMUM CONFIGURATION OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only) PROCESSOR: Intel Core i5-2400s @ 2.5 GHz or AMD FX-6350 @ 3.9 GHz or equivalent VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX660 or AMD R9 270 (2048 MB [...]

Following Synology’s massive launch of no less than five NAS systems, Synology is announcing yet another in preparation for the holiday season.

The new NAS is a 4-bay NAS Synology calls the DiskStation DS418Play and it’s a slightly upgraded variation of the DS418 which was recently released. Whereas the Synology DiskStation DS418 is equipped with a Realtek RTD1296 quad core processor along with 2GB of DDR4 RAM, the DS418Play features an Intel Celeron J3355 dual core processor paired with 2GB of DDR3 RAM. As a result, the Synology DS418Play will be capable of improved 4K video transcoding compared to the non-Play [...]

Following the release of the 8th generation “Kaby Lake-R” mobile CPUs last month, Intel has finally launched its 8th generation “Coffee Lake” CPUs.

Model Core i7-8700K Core i7-8700 Core i5-8600K Core i5-8400K Core i3-8350K Core i3-8100K Cores / Threads 6/12 6/12 6/6 6/6 4/4 4/4 Frequency (Base/Boost) 3.7Ghz / 4.7GHz 3.2Ghz / 4.6GHz 3.6Ghz / 4.3GHz 2.8Ghz / 4GHz 4Ghz / NA 3.6Ghz / NA Cache 12MB 12MB 9MB 9MB 8MB 6MB TDP 95W 65W 95W 65W 91W 65W Price $359 $303 $257 $182 $168 $117

Coffee Lake uses an improved version of the 14nm FinFET. Though there’s still no transistor node shrink (we’ll have to wait until [...]

As device makers strive to continue to make their devices thinner and more compact, USB-C ports have become commonplace on today’s latest mobile devices. Despite this however, the availability of quality USB-C docks are still difficult to come by.

OWC, the popular maker of Mac accessories, is attempting to change that with their most recent release, the OWC USB-C Travel Dock. The OWC USB-C Travel Dock is a portable USB-C powered device that offers users five additional I/O ports to greatly expand the versatility of a single USB-C port.

Ports on the OWC USB-C Travel Dock include:

USB-C Power 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A HDMI (Up to one 4K [...]

Crucial has recently announced the BX300 SSD, the latest update to the BX family of value oriented SSDs.

Available in capacities of 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB, the Crucial BX300 now packs the latest Micron 3D MLC NAND. Paired with the Silicon Motion SM2258 controller, the Crucial BX300 sports performance up to 555/530 MB/s sequential reads/writes and up to 95K/90K 4K random reads/writes for the top capacity. Write endurance is rated between 55 to 160TBW depending on capacity.

The Crucial BX300 is now available for $59.99 for the 120GB capacity, $89.99 for the 240GB capacity and $149.99 for the 480GB capacity. All drives come with a 3 year warranty.

If you recently purchased or built a new PC, or upgraded an older PC, the most important thing to do aside from stress testing is to benchmark. Whereas stress testing helps ensure the PC is completely stable not only during idle but also during heavy load, benchmarking will help ensure that the PC is operating at the appropriate level of performance for the components installed. As simple issues such as an outdated driver or an improperly configured component may significantly degrade performance, benchmark testing will allow you to quickly catch any issues and to fix them immediately so you can take full advantage of the new hardware that you’ve spent your hard [...]