laptop News - Page 28 of 33 - CNX Software

April 23, 2016May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Sub $100 Remix OS Laptops Powered by Allwinner A64 Processor Are Coming Our Way

Remix OS is a fork of Android making the popular operating system more suitable for desktop use with a start-up menu, better handling of multi-tasking, multi-window support, etc… It’s found in several tablets and TV boxes including Jide’s own Remix mini. But Charbax has showcased a few Remix OS laptop prototypes based on Allwinner A64 processor, with the video apparently shot from Allwinner office. The first model is a white 11.6″ laptop (1366×768) with Allwinner A64 quad core Cortex A53 processor, looking quite similar to Olimex DIY laptop prototype also based on A64, with 1 to 2GB RAM, 8GB to 32GB flash, and a “nice keyboard and touchpad”. The second model is based on the hardware, except the screen is larger (14.1″). It features HDMI output, two USB 2.0 ports, a micro SD slot, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Those two models are expected to sell between $80 and $100 […]

February 17, 2016February 17, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

NexDock is a 14″ Lapdock Alternative for mini PCs, Development Boards, Smartphones and Tablets (Crowdfunding)

Motorola once launched the Lapdock, a device that looks like a laptop with a 11.6″ screen and a keyboard, but without processor or memory since it was instead designed to connect to the company’s Atrix 4G smartphone. Motorola eventually pulled the plug on this concept, and maybe it was just ahead of its time, as a startup has now developed NexDock, a device similar to Lapdock with a 14″ display, built-in battery and Bluetooth keyboard. NexDock technical specifications: Display – 14.1″ TN screen; 1366×768 resolution; 16:9 display ratio Bluetooth 4.0 keyboard and touchpad Video input – mini HDMI port Audio Output – 3.5mm headphone port Storage – micro SD card slot USB – 2x USB ports Battery – 3.8V / 10000mAh Li-ion battery Power – 5V/2.5A via 3.5mm power barrel Dimensions – 351 mm x 233 mm x 20 mm Weight – 1490 grams NexDock is operating system agnostic and would […]

February 5, 2016February 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

How to Use Your Old Laptop Screen with Raspberry Pi or Your Computer

After reading an article on Liliputing about using Raspberry Pi Zero with Motorola Lapdock, I decided to look for clones for the device since Motorola Lapdock is now hard to buy at a decent price, if at all, since the product has been discontinued for a while. I did not find anything similar, but instead I came across M.NT68676.2A LCD driver HDMI kit selling for $37.99 on eBay that allows you to re-use your old laptop screen with any development board or computer that comes with HDMI, DVI, or VGA output. The kit is comprised of a monitor control board (M.NT68676.2A), an “inverter” board which depends on your LCD panel model number, a keypad board, an LVDS cable, and a cable to connect all three boards together. M.NT68676.2A monitor control board specifications: Chipset – NT68676 (UFG) Supported Panel – LED/LCD, Single/Dual LVDS (8bit) up to 2048×1152 resolution Video Input “PC-RGB […]

January 26, 2016May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Rhombus Tech 15.6″ Libre Laptop is User-Upgradeable with EOMA68 CPU Cards

When the first Raspberry Pi model launched, there was just not enough boards to fill the demand, and as people kept waiting they were also investigating alternatives, and a growing community worked on Allwinner based platforms. At the time (2012), the main hardware project was EOMA68 CPU card using a PCMCIA connector, with ended up inside Improv development board, and aimed at providing user replaceable and upgradeable CPU cards. Sadly the initiative got some issues, and things did not quite work out as expected, but the person who launched the whole project, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton (LKCL), did not give up on the idea, and has kept on working on EOMA68 standard with CPU cards from Allwinner and other SoC vendors. Recently, he’s been working on a Libre Laptop based on an Allwinner A20 EOMA68 CPU module, and will showcase the prototype at FOSDEM 2016 in Brussels this coming week-end. […]

November 25, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

One Education’s Infinity is a Rugged Modular Laptop for Kids (Crowdfunding)

Could 2016 be the year where modular / DIY laptops take off? Several projects has now in progress for modular laptops with Olimex’ OLinuXino DIY laptop project, Rhombus Tech’s MIPS based laptop with EOMA-68 module, and now One Education, has taken the footsteps of the OLPC (One Laptop Project per Child) project, by launching Infinity modular laptop on Indiegogo (flexible campaign) with delivery scheduled for September 2016. Infinity laptop / tablet hybrid specifications (subject to change): SoC – Quad core processor @ 1.4 GHz System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 8GB + micro SD slot Display – 8.9″ capacitive touchscreen display with 2560×1600 resolution Audio – Dual mode audio In/Out Connectivity – WiFi and Bluetooth USB – USB type C connector Misc – Dock with keyboard and touchpad Battery – 7,000 mAh The laptop prototype currently runs Android Lollipop with a Linux distributions (Ubuntu) in development. The laptops will […]

November 10, 2015May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Allwinner A64 Datasheet and User Manual Released

Allwinner has two 64-bit ARM processors in the works: Allwinner H64 and Allwinner A64. Both are quad core Cortex A53 processors with a Mali-400MP2 GPU, H.265 4K video playback with basically the same interfaces and peripherals, but H64 also supports H.264 at 4K resolutions, while A64 is limited to H.264 @ 1080p, and H64 adds a TS interface. The first good news is that two boards are in development: Orange Pi Plus 3 with Allwinner H64 Olimex A64-OLinuXino update with Allwinner A64 Engineering samples have already been produced for the first board, but that’s about all the information we have now, as Shenzhen Xunlong has not built its reputation by releasing documentation early. One the other hand, A64-OLinuXino schematics have nearly been completed, but we already know more details, as not only Olimex boards are open source hardware, but the company defies conventional wisdom by involving the community in the […]

October 19, 2015October 19, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Add an SSD to Your Laptop with a $5 Optical Drive Caddy Adapter

Performance of computers are often limited by their hard drive performance, and if you’ve ever upgraded from a mechanical hard drive to a SSD, you’ll be fully aware of the massive boost achieved by that upgrade. Many laptops come with a hard drive and a DVD drive, and if you’re not using the DVD drive that much or at all, you could purchase an ultra cheap optical drive caddy adapter to install an SSD into your laptop, or just another 2.5″ hard drive if you need extra storage. You’ll need to insert the SSD into the caddy, and replace the CD/DVD drive by the caddy. I’ve been informed of this trick via a link on eBay taht’s for an optical caddy adapter specifically for Lenovo IdeaPad Z50-70 B50-30, but if you search for “hdd optical caddy” you’ll find several “universal” optical caddy adapter for HDD and SSD with 12.7mm or […]

August 28, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

The First Intel Core M Skylake-Y Low Power Processors: Core M3 6Y30, M5 6Y54, M5 6Y57 and M5 6Y75

Last year, Intel unveiled Core M Broadwell-Y processors with 4.5W TDP aimed at laptops and tablets, and offering a middle ground between the performance achieved by Atom/Celeron/Pentium processor and the more powerful Core i3/i5/i7 processors. CPU World has now released details about the new Skylake-Y Core M processor that still feature 2 cores and 4 threads, as well as a TDP of 4.5W. There are now four models: Model Cores / Threads Frequency / Turbo L3 cache Graphics GPU Frequency TDP Core m3 6Y30 2 / 4 900 MHz / 2.2 GHz 4 MB HD 515 300 / 850 MHz 4.5 Watt Core m5 6Y54 1.1 / 2.7 GHz 300 / 900 MHz Core m5 6Y57 1.1 / 2.8 GHz 300 / 900 MHz Core m5 6Y75 1.2 / 3.1 GHz 300 / 1000 MHz The processors have the same number of cores and thread, the same amount of L3 […]