Thursday, January 7th, 2021

Time	Event
8:00a	GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Master Motherboard Review: Clawing at the Competition Throughout the majority of 2020, we saw an escalating war between AMD and Intel battling for supremacy in the desktop CPU market, which is an obvious win for the consumers. One of the side battles thus appeared in the motherboard market, with the Z490 chipset paving the way for Intel's 14 nm Comet Lake processors. One such model is the GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Master, which is poisitioned in the mid-range segment's upper end with a premium feature set. Some of the most notable features include 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 6 networking, triple PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, and plenty of rear panel connectivity. (Comment on this)
9:00a	Lenovo Announces New IdeaPad 5 Laptops at CES: AMD, Intel, Qualcomm, and 5G Always one of the biggest set of announcements for CES is from Lenovo, with updates to a lot of their lineup being announced every January, as well as some very interesting new products being shown off most years. As we head into CES week, Lenovo is teasing us with some updates to their IdeaPad lineup, including a new 5G model. As tends to be the case, we don’t always have the full spec sheets for these announcements yet, but let’s dig in and see what Lenovo is planning for the start of 2021. IdeaPad 5G 5G is still a buzzword, but it is nice to see the technology coming to laptops as well. Lenovo’s new IdeaPad 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx processor, and is coupled to the X55 modem to provide sub-6 GHz 5G capabilities for speedier networking in supported locations. Interestingly, the new laptop offers the fastest cellular connectivity, but only has Wi-Fi 5 support when you do connect to an access point. The 14-inch laptop offers a 1920x1080 16:9 display which can hit 300 nits in the sRGB gamut. RAM is up to 8 GB of LPDDR4X, and storage offerings will be up to 512 GB of PCIe SSD. The IdeaPad, thanks to the 8cx platform, is able to go fanless, which is one of the benefits of the low-powered Arm platform. Another benefit is battery life, with Lenovo claiming up to 20 hours of video playback from just 51 Wh capacity is a strong showing, and the USB-C charging offers Rapid Charge Express. Lenovo hasn’t fixed a price yet, other than to say it will vary by market, and that it will not be released in North America at this time. IdeaPad 5 Pro and 5i Pro Back in the x86 world, Lenovo is releasing two new IdeaPad models powered by AMD Ryzen in the 5 Pro, and 11th Gen Intel Core in the 5i Pro. These new laptops have moved to a 16:10 aspect ratio, and will be available in both a 14-inch and 16-inch model. We have seen a lot of laptops make the jump to taller displays in the last year or two, and it is very nice to see Lenovo offer several models with the 16:10 ratio. Lenovo is utilizing the IR sensor for time-of-flight, instead of just for Windows Hello login, which is a nice touch. The laptop will sense when you get up and walk away, and automatically pause video, as an example. Lenovo is also adding Amazon Alexa Show Mode, which lets you use your PC as an Alexa device when you want to. The displays are not only 16:10 aspect, but the 14-inch model offers a 90 Hz refresh rate and 400 nits of brightness. The 16-inch offers 120 Hz and 350 nits, which is nice to see in a non-gaming laptop. Both the Intel and AMD models will also offer an NVIDIA MX450 graphics card as a bump over integrated graphics. The 14-inch model will offer a 56.5 Wh battery, while the larger 16-inch model jumps to a very impressive 75 Wh unit, and all of them feature Rapid Charge Express for quicker charging over USB-C. On the Intel model, Tiger Lake is paired with up to 16 GB of DDR4 RAM and up to 1 TB of PCIe storage, and the 16-inch model features a Thunderbolt 4 port. Those opting for the next-generation AMD Ryzen H model lose access to the Thunderbolt 4, but the 16-inch IdeaPad 5 Pro can be outfitted with 32 GB of DDR4, rather than the 16 GB max in the smaller model. Lenovo has also added a larger trackpad, and updated the keyboard with new keys and backlighting. These devices, other than the 16-inch AMD powered model, will not initially be in the US market, but availability for all models will be in March, with prices as follows: IdeaPad 5 Pro 16” AMD laptop starts at $1149.99 and is to be available starting May 2021. IdeaPad 5 Pro 14” AMD laptop (not in the U.S.) available in EMEA March 2021, starts at €799.00 IdeaPad 5i Pro 16” Intel laptop (not in the U.S.) available in EMEA March 2021, starts at €899 IdeaPad 5i Pro 14” Intel laptop (not in the U.S.) available in EMEA March 2021 starts at €699 Source: Lenovo (Comment on this)
1:00p	CES 2021: Acer Touts Trio of 4K and 1440p High Refresh Rate Gaming Monitors Gaming monitors have tended to prefer lower resolutions and higher refresh rates, but catering to the wide variety of users in the market, Acer has also been developing monitors for gamers who want higher resolutions with those same high refresh rates. Set to be released under their Nitro and Predator families, for CES 2021 the company is promoting a mix of new and previously-announced (i.e. delayed) monitors, which will provide both high resolutions and the faster refresh rates that make gaming monitors so smooth. Plus, the pricing looks solid. Acer Nitro XV282K KV – UHD and FreeSync with HDMI 2.1 First unveiled back in September in China, Acer is bringing its first HDMI 2.1 monitor, the Acer Nitro XV282K KV, over to North America. Although a handful of a name, it is clearly targeted at the latest generation of consoles, specifically the Xbox Series X, as this UHD display features both VESA Variable Refresh (FreeSync) and HDMI 2.1, making it a perfect choice for those looking to pair the console with a high-refresh rate UHD display. The 28-inch panel offers 3840x2160 resolution, and up to 144 Hz refresh rate with AMD FreeSync support. Acer claims 1 ms response time as well. This IPS display also offers 90% of the P3 color gamut, and Acer claims 100,000,000:1 contrast. The display is rated for HDR 400, and it comes with an included HDMI 2.1 cable for easy connection. The Acer Nitro XV282K KV will be available in the US in May, starting at $899.99 USD. Acer Predator XB273U NX – QHD and G-SYNC Second up is a totally new monitor from Acer, the 27-inch Acer Predator XB273U NX. The 2560x1440 display features Acer's Agile-Splendor IPS panel, and can achieve an impressive 275 Hz refresh when overclocked. It also supports HDR, and up to 95% of the P3 gamut. Acer claims 0.5 ms response time in gray to gray transitions, and coupled with the high refresh rate, should make for a very smooth experience. This display offers NVIDIA G-SYNC variable refresh rate. It also features the new NVIDIA Reflex Latency Analyzer, which measures the time between a mouse click and the pixel actually changing, and is a feature aimed at the pro-gamer crowd for gameplay analysis. The Acer Predator XB273U NX will be available in May starting at $1099.99 USD. Acer Predator XB323QK NV – UHD and G-SYNC Finally, Acer is also offering an update on their 31.5-inch behemoth G-Sync monitor, the Acer Predator XB323QK NV. This monitor was first announced back in June of 2020 with a September ship date, but it has since been pushed out to May of this year. Aimed at the high-end of the market, the Acer Predator XB323QK NV offers a high-refresh UHD display with 3840x2160 resolution and a 144 Hz refresh rate. Sporting DisplayHDR 400 certification, the monitor can produce 90% of the P3 gamut. Like the other monitors being promoted today, the Acer Predator XB323QK NV will also available in May. Pricing will start at $1199.99 USD. Source: Acer (Comment on this)

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