If money is no issue, then Lenovo’s X1 Carbon Touch (above) is an ideal slim and light companion for all your work trips. But if you can’t bear to part with S$2,999 for the expensive laptop, there are affordable – yet fast – ultrabooks that make for great machines on the go.

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The arrival of touch-screen tablets and other designs with screens that flip, turn or rotate has not revived the fortunes of the ailing PC market.

Instead of providing a much-needed reboot, these Windows 8 machines may actually have made things worse by plunging the market into its steepest ever decline, according to research firm IDC. …

At the start of each new year, you inevitably hear about the end of the PC, if not the laptop, then surely, the desktop PC. After all, with all the focus on touch-based portable machines, who has time for that less sexy DIY PC you build with your own bare hands?

Well, fortunately, the desktop PC or the DIY PC isn’t going away. True, it’s not grabbing headlines like before, but for PC buffs, 2013 should bring interesting designs and more flexible uses of their much-loved machines.

CPUs are more powerful yet cooler and quieter, making a full-fledged living room PC truly possible now. Plus, with so many different designs, you’ll be glad you are building your own PC rather than buying a cookie-cutter design.

Here’s why 2013 looks interesting to the PC buff.
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With Windows 8 just days from launch, one word is increasingly on the lips of folks in the industry – confusion.

While Windows 8 brings with it loads of innovation, including a touch-friendly interface, the various software versions and sheer variety of devices appearing on shelves everywhere could well have some consumers scratching their heads. Apparently, even some folks in Microsoft can’t tell the difference.

How do you choose between Windows 8 and Windows RT? Do you buy Microsoft’s Surface tablet or an iPad, or well, a laptop? What’s with these hybrid devices that promise the best of both worlds?

Here’s a quick guide to pick the right software and device.

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The world is going to be a little stranger from next month, when the first tablets and hybrids running Windows 8 turn up in stores everywhere with the promise of a touch interface that rivals the iPad and Android tablets.

On the shelves will be devices with screens that slide out, swivel and snap back to turn into iPad-like machines. Then, there are conventional clamshell-shaped laptops that come with touch screens. All will be incredibly light – some less than 1kg – to rival even the currently skinny ultrabooks.

Yet, despite the most innovative designs in years from the likes of Asus, Dell and Samsung, will consumers bite? Will they junk their iPads and fat laptops now and go for a single device that does it all?

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Intel has formally shown off a new low-power Atom chip running on Windows 8 tablets that it hopes will help muscle into a portable devices market that had proven hard to crack in the past.

Codenamed Clover Trail, the new Atom chips will power upcoming Windows 8 devices appearing in the next two months, especially ones that are ultra-thin and aimed at Apple’s iPad tablets. …

Intel has just formally unveiled its fourth generation Core CPUs, sticking to its guns to push out cross-over tablets and ultrabooks that promise enhanced performance while providing a full day’s battery life in 2013.

These new chips, previously codenamed Haswell, can produce the same performance while consuming half the battery life of this year’s Ivybridge or third-generation Core CPUs, which are expected to power the first Windows 8 devices. The new CPUs also use 20 times less power while idle.

At full speed, the new CPUs’ graphics prowess surpasses the current CPUs easily, according to demos at the annual Intel Developer Forum at San Francisco this week.

Intel hopes the new chips will further push the sales of ultrabooks, which have wowed many users with their innovative designs, but have not sold as well as expected. Last week, the semiconductor giant had to downgrade its sales prediction for the third quarter
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Who needs a desktop PC any more? That question replayed in my head more than a dozen times in recent weeks when I was thinking of rebuilding a new PC.

After all, with the exception of gaming – and I am playing fewer games these days – there really isn’t much that a cheap, fast and pretty ultrabook cannot do. Even if I wanted to build a new PC, I could buy a really small case, stuff it with all the excellent gear and be really happy with it.

But one look at the classic Silverstone TJ07 case I’ve been using for more than five years, and it’s clear I’m keeping that amazing piece of gear. Despite its rather dated interior layout and being better suited for a watercooling setup, its aluminium unibody design is still stunning to look at and puts a smile on many PC builders.

And so I built a new PC with it in the past few days. Here’s a brief work log of sorts of my new PC based on an Intel Ivybridge CPU. …

After months of letting users try it out, Microsoft said on Wednesday that its latest, most ambitious Windows operating system in years will ship on October 26.

The touch-based features have been well covered. But they are perhaps just the tip of the ice berg for upcoming changes in the way PCs will be used in the years ahead.

The other part of the equation is the hardware, and that’s evolving by the month as new laptops, tablets and hybrid devices come out sporting Intel’s new ultra-thin designs.

No one knows for sure how things will pan out. But here are three possible scenarios, based on what we’ve seen so far. …

The news is official today. The first Thunderbolt-enabled motherboards will be shipping soon, starting with vendors such as Asus, and users can look to hook up external drives much faster than with current USB 3.0 ports.

The first boards from Asus unveiled today include the new top-line model from its Intel Z77-based lineup, the P8Z77-V Premium, as well as a version of the existing P8Z77-V Pro which will come with a Thunderbolt connector included.

Apple’s Mac laptops and desktops have been the first machines to feature Intel’s new technology, which promises to be twice as fast as USB 3.0. Now, PC builders can also hook up a number of drives from the likes of Promise, Elgato and Lacie.  …