Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments on Intel NUC M15 Laptop Kit serves as an Evo-qualified Tiger Lake laptop reference design

Intel NUC M15 Laptop Kit serves as an Evo-qualified Tiger Lake laptop reference design

Intel NUC mini PCs or mini Desktops have been around for over 8 years, but now Intel has just announced an NUC laptop kit. Wait… What? Yep, NUC just stands for “Next Unit of Computing”, so it can be any kind of computer, and the company’s latest NUC is Intel NUC M15 laptop kit (codenamed “Bishop County”) powered by an Intel 11th generation Tiger Lake processor. The NUC M15 laptop kit complies with Project Athena that aims for thin laptops with fast response times and long battery life and targets the whitebook market, so Intel customers can use it as a reference design meeting Intel Evo platform brand requirements. Intel NUC M15 laptop kit (LAPBC710 and LAPBC510) specifications: SoC LAPBC710 – Intel Core i7-1165G7 quad-core/octa-thread Tiger Lake processor @ up to 2.8 GHz (base) / 4.7 GHz (Turbo single-core) / 4.1 GHz (Turbo all-core) with 12M Cache, 96 EU Intel Iris Xe graphics @ up to 1.30 GHz; TDP: 15-28W […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments on Arm Cortex-A78C core supports up to 8 cores per cluster, 8MB L3 cache for always-on laptops

Arm Cortex-A78C core supports up to 8 cores per cluster, 8MB L3 cache for always-on laptops

[Update November 7, 2020:  Correction for the meaning of “multi-OS support” on Arm Cortex-A78AE core] Arm Cortex-A78 CPU core was first introduced in May 2020 with a focus on mobile devices like smartphones and was followed by Cortex-A78AE for automotive and industrial embedded applications in September. The company has now introduced a new variant with Arm Cortex-A78C supporting up to eight cores per cluster, a larger cache up to 8MB for higher performance, and advanced security features all designed for always-on laptops and other “on-the-go” devices. Arm Cortex-A78C key features and specifications: Architecture –  Armv8-A (Harvard) Extensions – Armv8.1, Armv8.2, Cryptography, and RAS; Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.3-A and Armv8.6-A Pointer Authentication support (excluding the optional FPAC extension), and Armv8.4 multi-OS support ISA support – A64, A32, and T32 (at EL0 only) Microarchitecture Pipeline – Out of order Superscalar Neon / Floating Point Unit Optional cryptography Unit Max number of CPUs in cluster – 8 (instead of 4 max for […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on One Netbook A1 7-inch laptop features Ethernet and COM port for IT Pros

One Netbook A1 7-inch laptop features Ethernet and COM port for IT Pros

We’ve seen many Intel-powered mini-laptops with 6 to 9-inch display in the last coupled of years mainly from GPD and One Netbook, but also CHUWI. Most models are tinier versions of ultrabooks with wireless-only connectivity, but last year GPD MicroPC 6-inch mini-laptop added Ethernet and RS-232 COM port for IT professionals such as sysadmins. But there’s now another option with One Netbook A1 equipped with a 7-inch display, powered by an Intel Core m3-8100Y Amber Lake processor, and also featuring Ethernet and COM ports, plus the usual USB and HDMI ports. One Netbook A1 specifications: SoC – Intel Core m3-8100Y dual-core/quad-thread Amber Lake processor @ 1.1 / 3.4 (Turbo) GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 615; 5W TDP System Memory – 8GB RAM Storage – 256GB or 512GB M.2 SSD; microSD card slot Display – 7-inch touchscreen IPS LCD with 1920 x 1200 resolution IPS LCD;  support for stylus with 4096 levels of pressure Video Output – 1x micro HDMI port […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on TUXEDO Aura 15 Linux Laptop is Powered by AMD Ryzen 7 4700U Processor

TUXEDO Aura 15 Linux Laptop is Powered by AMD Ryzen 7 4700U Processor

There are few Linux laptops on the market and usually higher-end ones, so some people may decide to buy a Windows or FreeDOS laptop and install Ubuntu or another Linux distribution themselves. In theory, this is supposed to work, but when installed Ubuntu 18.04 on an Acer Ryzen 7 laptop a couple of years ago, it took me several hours of work to get this working despite it being pre-loaded with Linpus Linux operating system. So more choice is always welcome, and TUXEDO Computers has now added a mid-range Linux laptop to their offerings with TUXEDO Aura 15 powered by a 15W AMD Ryzen 7 4700U octa-core processor and shipping with Ubuntu 20.04, openSUSE 15.2, or TUXEDO_OS 20.04 based on Ubuntu plus Budgie Desktop. TUXEDO Aura 15 specifications: SoC – AMD Ryzen 7 4700U octa-core processor @ 2.0 to 4.1 GHz (Turbo) with 8 MB L3-Cache, AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 Graphics; 15 W TDP System Memory – 2x DDR4 […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Chuwi GemiBook 13″ 2K Gemini Lake Refresh Laptop Sold for $299 (Promo)

Chuwi GemiBook 13″ 2K Gemini Lake Refresh Laptop Sold for $299 (Promo)

Chuwi is running a promotion on Aliexpress where they sell some products at a discount including some previously launched devices such as LarkBox mini PC but also took the opportunity to launch Chuwi GemiBook laptop powered by an Intel Celeron J4115 Gemini Lake Refresh processors and equipped with a 13-inch 2K (2160×1440) display. The laptop also comes with 12GB LPDDR4X RAM, and a 256GB SSD which makes it a fairly decent deal for the $299.99 price asked during the two-day promotion. You can even shave off an extra $10 from the total price by selecting the $10 discount coupon for orders over $299. Chuwi Gemibook specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4115 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor @ 1.8 / 2.5 GHz (Boost) with Intel UHD Graphics 600 @ 750 MHz System Memory – 12GB LPDDR4X @  2133MHZ Storage – 256GB SSD, MicroSD card socket up to 2TB Display – 13-inch IPS display with 2160×1440 resolution; 180° rotation support Camera – […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 Education Laptop Review

CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 Education Laptop Review

I started my review of CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 Learning Kit a while ago and at the time I showed content from the kit and its first boot. I’ve now spent more time with this very special Raspberry Pi 4 laptop and will focus this review on the education part, namely CrowPi2 software, but will also look at thermal cooling under stress with and without a fan, and try to install another Raspberry Pi compatible board inside the laptop shell. CrowPi2 Education Software It’s quite important to read the user manual before getting started as there are a few non-intuitive steps you may have to take. First I assume the wireless keyboard would just connect after pressing the power button, but it did not. The user manual explains the RF dongle is inside the mouse, and once you connect it you’ll be able to use the keyboard that has some battery charge out of the box, and can be charged […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G Compute Platform Offers 505 Greater Performance, Longer Battery Life

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G Compute Platform Offers 50% Greater Performance, Longer Battery Life

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx 5G processor was launched last year for always-on always-connected PC and delivers a similar performance of 15W Intel Comet Lake processors with much lower power consumption enabling 20+ hours battery life. The company has now an update with Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G Compute Platform with 50% greater system-wide performance and battery life versus “competing solutions”. More on that later. Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G specifications with the differences against the first generation in bold or stricken-through: CPU – 8x Qualcomm Kryo 495 64-bit cores 7nm Process Technology Visual Subsystem – Qualcomm Adreno GPU with DX12 support Memory – LPDDR4x, 8 Channels up to 2133 MHz Storage – NVMe SSD, UFS3.0 Qualcomm Artificial Intelligence Engine Qualcomm Hexagon 690 DSP (was 685) Qualcomm Sensing Hub technology Qualcomm All-Ways Aware technology Display Maximum On-Device Display Support: 4K Ultra HD Dual 4K external displays support over DP-MST Audio Qualcomm Aqstic audio technology Qualcomm TrueWireless technology Qualcomm Broadcast Audio technology Qualcomm […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Intel Launches 11th Gen Intel Core “Tiger Lake” Processors with Intel Iris Xe graphics

Intel Launches 11th Gen Intel Core “Tiger Lake” Processors with Intel Iris Xe graphics

Intel has officially launched Tiger Lake processors for thin-and-light Laptops. The new 11th generation processors come with either Intel Iris Xe graphics or the older Intel UHD graphics, and nine processors are currently available divided into two families: UP3 with 12W to 28W configurable TDP, and UP4 with 7W to 15W configurable TDP. Manufactured with a 10nm process, the new processors are said to deliver up to 2.7x faster content creation (Photo Editing), more than 20% faster office productivity in Office 365, and more than 2x faster gaming plus streaming when comparing an Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor to AMD Ryzen 7 4800U. The new Intel Iris Xe graphics comes with up to 96 EUs and up to 16MB of L3 cache, and Intel claims it outperforms 90% of the discrete graphics usually paired with U-series processors. Tiger Lake processors also integrate a new DP4a instruction set for neural network inferencing on integrated graphics with Intel DL Boost and native support […]

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