Acer wowed us a little bit last year when they launched their new Predator Triton 500 package. When it was released in its Navy coloured aluminium body with a super thin body profile, it was quite a remarkable powerhouse you can take anywhere without breaking your back. What is even more amazing is that the power brick that comes with it is smaller than most power bricks that comes with notebook PCs with that kind of power.
The new one is technically no different from the old one. When we say that though, we are just talking in terms of appearance. Compared to the older Predator Triton 500, you are looking at roughly the same body shape and size. Same package, if you might. But inside packs more power than ever before.
What you get inside is the latest 10th Generation Intel Core i7 (up to) to unlock the true power of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (up to) Max-Q GPU you get in a 17.9-inch think body. The all-metal body weighs about 2.1kg. That is not to say that it is a light package, but it is lighter than most gaming PCs. It packs plenty of power in less weight and smaller package than a pack of rice.
Source: Acer
While the older Predator Triton 500 only packs a display with 144Hz, the new one for 2020 is a performance powerhouse with 300Hz refresh rate. Who needs 300Hz? We do, with Full HD to make sure everything is smoother than a baby’s bottoms. It is fast too at 3ms response time and G-Sync enabled. Of course, colours are important, so the display gets up to 100% in sRGB colour gamut coverage.
The cooling solution in a body this thing has not changed all that much really. It is still the proven fourth generation AeroBlade 3D fans pulling hot air out of the internals of the notebook. Why fix something that is not broken, right? Still, to ensure that you do not burn up the PC when you game intensely or even edit videos, there is CoolBoost with Vortex Flow to ensure the Predator Triton 500 is at its maximum cooling capacity. You can see all these things and control your RGB lighting effects on the keyboards in Predator Sense.
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
The Acer Predator Triton 500 will be available from Acer’s own online store and Lazada from the 15th June 2020. You can find it in stores starting 20th June 2020. The Predator Triton 500 will be available with online exclusive promotions though, starting from the 15th June 2020. The new 2020 updated version of the Acer Predator Triton 500 will start at MYR 7,999 onward. For more information, you can check out Acer’s Predator Microsite.
It is hard to believe when we say that the Sony PlayStation 4 platform is already about 7 years old now. When it was launched, it was ‘The’ next generation console to get your hands on. It was supposedly less powerful than the Xbox at that time, but it came with a chock-full of exclusives that made the Xbox look boring.
In its 7 years of service, there has been some great games that was made on the PlayStation platform. Plenty of the titles that came even later in its life cycle was very respectable titles still. Games like Grand Theft Auto V that was launched about the same time the PlayStation 4 was launched gained high praises for its graphical prowess and gameplay. That still holds true even today. Then there is games like God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Last of Us. These games launched just a few years ago still held up to the standards of games today. These games are still regarded as some of the best games today even when you compare them to games you can play on PC.
Mind you, all these games that are filled with praises and great graphics are played on 7-year-old system. That is a testament to the prowess of the system itself in Full HD 1080p gaming. They’ve launched a specific model to accommodate the rising trend of 4K televisions though, the PlayStation 4 Pro with 4K Ultra HD capabilities but limited to 30fps. That is okay though because most TVs do not go over 75Hz in refresh rate. Still, pushing the original PS4 hardware to take on 4K gaming also adds some heat issues and a slightly different power regulation measures. The PS4 Pro handled that nicely and is still a benchmark in 4K gaming. Heck most PCs still maintain their gaming resolution to 2K. That is also to keep the refresh rate higher though at 120Hz at least to get 120fps.
Seven years on and it is time for the PlayStation 5. It is time for the next generation gaming console. It has also been teased since 2018 technically and we have seen renders of the PS5 floating around in the world wide web. None of them, in our hopes, was true renders though. PS5 finally revealed some things early on in the year and just about a month ago. They revealed that, like the Microsoft Xbox, the PS5 console platform will feature AMD’s latest chips with RDNA 2 and Ray Tracing. It is touted to be less powerful than the Xbox too, just slightly. They claim that the Sony PS5 is about 10x faster than the previous generation console thanks to the more powerful hardware and cleverer SSD storage management and usage. People from Epic Games claim that the PS5 console is more powerful than any current generation gaming PC with an Unreal Engine demo.
There was a lot of hype around it especially after Sony revealed the Dualsense controller. Mind you, we have already seen how the other competing gaming console looks like. The Microsoft offering is black and box; purposeful. The renders of the next-gen Sony console does not look promising with weird valleys in the design and huge bulges that is less than attractive. At least he controller looks good though. It looks bulkier with more ergonomics as a part of the design consideration. It looks more comfortable than before. It looks better than before too. It departs from the traditional Sony Dualshock design that became an icon of a controller in the gaming world.
With the console and controller mix too they promise an even more immersive gaming experience with not just ultra high-resolution and sharp graphics, and pulling horsepower; but also with immersive 3D audio even without purpose built audio systems. They are building that immersive audio into the Dualsense controller too. More than that, the trigger buttons on the PS5 are now adaptive to the games you play and its requirements. Now, we are more excited than ever to see the PS5 console itself. We hoped, we prayed that the new console does not look like anything that has been in the renders.
Source: Sony
Fast forward to way too early this morning and our prayers were answered with the reveal of the PS5. Thank the heavens, it does not look like anything the renders put out. Thank heavens, Sony was able to keep the project under wraps for such a long time. Thank heavens, they have lined up a bunch of exclusives to be released within the first year of the PS5 launch in the late 2020s to the early 2021s.
The Sony PS5 looks like nothing in this world. It looks more like a sculpture than anything else you can put your finger on. It is a far cry compared to the sharp, boxy slate design we are used to with the PS4. Instead, the sharp boxy design continues only with the Microsoft Xbox Series X, a boxy bin like structure that is more purposeful and stealthy. The PS5 is made so that you can really show off.
It comes in two variants too, a regular PS5 with a Blu-Ray disc insert for the usual Blu-Ray media that we are used to since the PS4. Then there is a curious PS5 with no disc tray. They call it the Digital Edition and that starts to make a little bit of sense since games are purchased online and digitally these days.
Source: Sony
Still, in its first launch phase, you are getting the first generation of Sony’s anticipated Dual-sense controller. There will be a Sony PS5 headphone to purchase as well. We assume that this is going to be fully optimised with Sony’s proprietary Tempest audio engine. There is also a Nintendo Wii-esque controller that we assume would be a VR or AR motion controller that you need to pair with a tracking camera which they are also selling together later on when the PS5 launches. There are no PS VR headset in sight just yet.
Back to how it looks. There are plenty of smooth curves on its body that is standing tall. The only sharp edges are the two plates on each side holding everything upright and in its place. Those plates reveals a black cutaway cross structure that holds the integrity of the PS5 and encases all the horsepower inside. There are plenty of ventilation holes revealed here too, presumably for cooling and airflow: important in something that holds as much power as a very high-end gaming PC in less space than a mini-ITX build. We wonder at its thermal performance and throttling now though.
Source: Sony
In a sense, this looks beautiful. This looks more like a show piece with its large white panels and distinctive, yet muscular curves and grooves. It looks powerful, yet elegant and modern. It looks like it belongs on your coffee table as a centerpiece more than in your TV shelf as a gaming device.
We still do not know how it will actually perform though. All we know so far are just numbers. From the demos, it is looking good too. The only issue is that we are not directly having our hands-on with it just yet, so it is difficult to say.
Still, like when they launched the PS4, they lined up very compelling titles out of the box within the first year of its release. We can expect even more than what they have already showcased too. Within the announcement itself, we are already excited to place our wallets on the counter for one PS5.
Source: Sony
First of all, the announcement starts with Grand Theft Auto V (GTA). Yes, it is an old game. As old as the PS4 itself. But Rockstar is not announcing any new GTA titles anytime soon and the best we will get at this time is GTA V. Rockstar and PlayStation announced that the title will be available for free to current GTA V players on the PS4 console. Players on PS4 console will also be getting 1 million in-game currency every month until the PS5 launches. Great deal? Great deal.
Then they continue with not just a handful of games to be released just for the PS5. It looks like they announced a whole year worth of games if you play them one by one. It is as though they are giving you a reason to buy the console at least to keep it for a year worth of binge gaming.
We have our highlights of course, and we are lovers of exclusive titles. One of the ones we are really excited about is Horizon: Forbidden West. We love the first title, and we are still playing it (we suck at games, please forgive us). The award-winning Spider-Man on PS4 is followed up with Spider-Man: Miles Morales too. Then, there is Grand Turismo 7 (we are also quite big on racing games). We are unexpectedly excited for Sackboy: A big Adventure, because we played Little Big Planet 3. Then there are titles like Resident Evil VIII: Village, and Hitman III. If those titles do not get you excited, we don’t know what will. Best of all, you can still play all your titles from the PS4 if you already have them, thanks to backward compatibility this time. They are still based on the Blu-Ray media system anyway. The list of PlayStation exclusive titles that will be launched within the first year of the PS5 release are listed below.
Exclusive Games 2020/2021 Release
Spider-man: Miles Morales
Grand Turismo 7
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Project Athia
Stray
Returnal
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Destruction: All Stars
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Goodbye Volcano High
Oddworld: Soulstorm
Ghostwire: Tokyo
Jett: The Far Shore
Godfall
Solar Ash
Hitman III
Astro Playroom
Little Devil Inside
NBA 2k21
Bugsnax
Demon’s Soul
Deathloop
Resident Evil VIII – VIllage
Pragmata
Horizon: Forbidden West
The Sony PlayStation 5 will be launched later in the year 2020. We are looking at the fourth quarter of the year for the highly anticipated console. We kind of know which console we will get our hands-on first with this reveal. Still, as per said by plenty of sources in Sony, we can expect prices to land somewhere near the US$ 500 mark, most likely more than that, but less than US$ 600 hopefully. We are keeping our eyes open, so stay tuned. What do you think of the Sony PlayStation 5 now that we have seen it? Which would you get? Comment below.
The COVID-19 situation is getting better all around the world. Thanks to the collective efforts of the World Health Organisation, global governments, and even health institutions, the pandemic is mostly under control. There is still yet a viable vaccine in sight yet though. In that sense we still must take precautions against the disease that is the COVID-19.
That is also why plenty of global sporting events are either cancelled or postponed. One such event is the Olympics that is set to happen in Japan. Another event that was postponed is Acer’s Predator League Asia Pacific Finals that is supposed to happen in the Philippines.
On that front, Acer was going to postpone their biggest eSports tournament for Asia Pacific to the end of this year 2020. The conditions are not encouraging enough for the global eSports tournament to happen this year unfortunately. They have decided that the event is going to be postponed to 2021 over health and safety concerns of both fans and participants.
To be specific the tournament will happen at Spring 2021. The location has not changed, nor the participating teams. The same teams that qualified in their respective regional Predator Leagues in 2020 will be the teams that competes in Acer’s Asia Pacific Predator League 2020/2021. The price pool remains at US$ 400,000 too.
There are no confirmed or specific dates just yet from Acer though. When they say Spring 2020, that is in the span of March until June in 2021. These dates could also be affected by changes in health procedures and other changes.
For Acer’s Predator League 2020, they have sold about 20,000 tickets to date. Ticket holders can hold on to their tickets for the postponed event and it will still be eligible for the upcoming 2020/2021 dates. Either that, or ticket holders can claim for a refund for their tickets.
Still, we do hope that the global pandemic that is the COVID-19 would have been completely eradicated by then. Of course, that is a little far-fetched of an idea. Still, we remain hopeful since every other person is focused on finding a solution to the pandemic.
The Asia Pacific Predator League 2020/2021 scheduled to run in Spring 2021 will feature 17 regions’ representatives in the Asia Pacific continent. The tournament will be held in Philippines as planned for the Predator League 2020. For more information on the Predator League 2020/2021, you can head over to Acer Predator’s social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
Minecraft is a huge game. Say what you want about Minecraft and its weird boxy graphics that you cannot take seriously; the game is one of the most popular video games you can find today. Its online community is also one of the biggest in the gaming community. Plus, they are all very nice people and also very creative. There are people who make a living out of building things in the Minecraft game world. Someone did a measurement of the map size of Minecraft and it is multiple times the size of GTA’s game world. It is that big, it is not a child’s game.
There is more to Minecraft than meets the eye though. The sandbox platform is not just about players going in, gathering materials and then building large, mega-buildings to be shown off to the internet. There is some adventure involved around the game as well. There are elements of survival within the game. All these was always available for PC gamers, and they create their own Minecraft journey.
For beginners then, the game can be quite overwhelming. The vast map, the emptiness of the maps, the endless possibilities. While plenty of gamers enjoy that, there are some that would like more curated approaches to their game storyline. They prefer to indulge in stories rather than creating them. That is the idea behind Minecraft Dungeons, another original project from Minecraft’s developers, Mojang Studios.
We have not had any experience with the game itself, if we are being honest. So we can only comment on what we have seen so far. So far, it looks like dungeon hack-and-slash that we are plenty used to. Minecraft Dungeons can easily be mistaken for a boxier version of Diablo or Torchlight. Those are brilliant games, by the way.
This is not a completely solo experience though. You can co-op with your friends to get to the end of the Minecraft Dungeons journey. We are not entirely sure if there is cross platform playability just yet. Still, playing games online with your friends is a part of socialising these days.
Source: Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
While Minecraft was created for PC, Minecraft dungeons is made available for all platforms including Playstation 4 thanks to the co-development of the game with Double Eleven. Double Eleven is the team behind the ever so popular Goat Simulator by the way. The online aspect of Minecraft Dungeon is also worked by Double Eleven if you must know. For your information too, Double Eleven has a Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia studio and they are looking for talents to join them for future projects. You can find out more from their website.
Minecraft Dungeons is available now for PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4. On PC, you can get your hands on the new title on Microsoft Store for MYR 78. There are at least three planned DLCs for the game to be announced on a later date.
Another week, another Tech & Tonic Podcast. This week we delve deeper into something that was launched for APAC last week. We saw the official announcement and presentation of the AMD Ryzen 4000 CPUs for mobile devices. The presentation came with a lot of numbers too, the usual jargon for CPU comparisons and compute powers.
What does the numbers mean though? We take a look at the numbers and translate them to real world experiences we got from our tech reviews so far. That is, right after we talk wonders about Mercedes-Benz’s new super fast, compact A-Class cars that just launched in Malaysia today.
While Lenovo launched their line-up of updated gaming rigs, we were only interested in one thing in their presentation. At the end of their Legion gaming rigs presentation they teased the Lenovo Legion smartphone and other Lenovo smartphones. We overanalysed that a little bit, and poked fun at the leaked render of the device too. All that and more in Tech & Tonic Podcast.
Lenovo Legion should not be an unfamiliar name for gamers by now. Personally, the Lenovo Legion Notebook PCs that came out last year are some of the ones that stand out most in the gaming notebook PC market. They are also some of the most well-built notebook gaming PCs in the market in our humble opinions.
The design language of the 2019 line-up of Lenovo Legion products hits the spot, we feel in balancing the powerful look of a gaming notebook and a sleek looking mobile productivity machine. They look industrial, durable, and clean. So we are quite glad to see that design language continue in the 2020 line-up of Lenovo Legion products.
Lenovo Legion 7i
We start with the most powerful notebook PC in their line-up for 2020, the Lenovo Legion 7i. Not the Y700 series anymore this time, just a simple number and letter marking its CPU variant according to Lenovo. The good part is that it simplifies naming and recognition of the notebooks. To be fair though, Lenovo’s line-up is not as extensive as the likes of ASUS, so confusion should be limited in the first place.
Still, the Lenovo Legion 7i is the brand’s flagship portable gaming rig that packs the power of Intel’s most powerful mobile CPU, the 10th Generation Intel Core i9 (up to). That is paired to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super GPU for a maxed out performance while gaming. While the hardware you can find within the all-aluminium body is testament enough that this is a serious piece of kit for both LAN parties and any CPU and GPU intensive work conditions, it does not stop here.
Source: Lenovo
The Lenovo Legion 7i also has an impressive array of RGB lights on the keyboard and around the outer shell to let anyone else in the room know that you are running a serious rig. You control the lighting effects via Corsair’s trusty iCUE RGB software built into the Lenovo Legion 7i. It is individual LED lights on the keyboard too, so you can have different colours on each keys if you want. Or, if you are like me, keep everything lighted to a single colour (a waste of good RGB I know).
To keep things cool, Lenovo developed something they call Coldfront 2.0. While that sounds like a bunch of gimmicks, it is actually a very clever solution to cool the CPU and GPU for optimised performance. Heat is the enemy, here, you get the idea. There is no way around the fact that the space on a notebook PC is very limited and therefore airflow is highly restricted in these conditions. Lenovo’s way of managing this is a combination of clever fan management from the software and designing more efficient heat sinks and pipes in optimised locations within the aluminium body.
Source: Lenovo
It sounds plenty easier said that done though. The new Vapor Chamber (heat pipes) that Lenovo developed for the Lenovo Legion 7i is supposedly larger than before, which is a challenge around the restricted space of the notebook PC. Still, they managed it so that there is more efficient heat transfer from the CPU and GPU to the cooling fans and ducts. All this while managing to keep two NVMe M.2 slots for two ultra-fast SSD and one SATA slot for maximum storage.
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
All these is nothing though if you are seeing everything through a terrible display. Some of the previous Lenovo Legion notebook PCs have gotten a few negative comments when it comes to the display because plenty of them use TN (Twisted Nematic) panel displays. Those panels are known for horrible colour accuracy, washed out images, and even worse colour contrast. They are very fast though, pushing 300Hz in refresh rates in some cases and easily push 1ms in response time.
The progression in IPS (In-Plane Switching) technology though has allowed Lenovo to take advantage of the more colour accurate displays on the Lenovo Legion 7i with Full HD resolution with up to 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time (unreal, we know). Those, along with 1000% of sRGB colour gamut for super accurate colours when you need to do all your Adobe Photoshop work or Adobe Premiere Pro colour grading work.
Smarter Gaming
Lenovo has always looked for ways to innovate in the PC market. After all, it is a very saturated market with too many players to name in the first place. Staying at the front of the market with new innovations then is very important.
For the Lenovo Legion gaming line-up they have developed a new Lenovo Vantage software that allows users to have full control over each aspect of Lenovo’s gaming rigs. You can change the fan behaviour from the software itself. You can technically set maximum fan speed, and even more overclocking or undervolting settings within the software. Of course, if you know what you are doing with a PC, you might get more out of this than Lenovo’s own default settings for yourself.
With the Vantage also comes Lenovo’s new Q-Control 3.0. This is to control both the fan speed and overclocking on the Legion notebook PCs. It is designed to quickly switch between different thermal profiles to either keep the PC quiet, or to maximise cooling efforts.
Ther have also tuned the displays on the new Lenovo Legion notebook PC line-up. The new IPS panels means better colour accuracy. Lenovo’s very own Legion Visual software optimises the graphics and colours even more by tuning the colours for optimum usage in different brightness settings and use cases.
They even made the new Legion products last even longer than before with 80Wh of battery pack now. That means that Lenovo’s Legion gaming rigs can last up to 8 hours on a single charge or more, depending on hardware power requirements and others. 8 hours is a long time for any gaming PC though.
Lenovo Legion 5Pi
There is a few variants of the Lenovo Legion 5 series that is coming into Malaysia and we, of course, start with the most powerful one. This is also Lenovo’s second most powerful Notebook PC that is coming to Malaysia. As the ‘i’ in the naming scheme suggests, this is an Intel powered gaming Notebook PC. It has a 10th Generation Intel Core i7 (up to) paired to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (up to).
While not as powerful as the super powerful Lenovo Legion 7i, the Lenovo Legion 5Pi is more powerful than plenty of gaming notebooks of its class. You get some really nice features on the Lenovo Legion 5Pi still too. There is a 4-zone RGB still on the keyboard of the Legion 5Pi notebook PC to show that this is not just a normal Lenovo Legion 5 series. Even the top clam housing the display has a slightly different design with the Legion ‘Y’ Logo front and center of the clam.
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
The display is also a Full HD IPS panel with 100% sRGB colour gamut to make short work of Adobe Photoshop. Along with 144Hz refresh rate and up to 1ms response time, this could be the perfect rig if you are on a slightly lower budget but still need a primary notebook PC to work with in LAN parties or at work. Again, I would tone down the RGB for myself, a matter of preference.
Lenovo Legion 5i
The Lenovo Legion 5i is technically the Lenovo Legion 5Pi, but a little toned down. As the naming moniker suggests too, it is an Intel device. Powered by Intel’s 10th Generation 10nm Core i7 (up to), this thing is still no slouch. In place of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super though is a slightly less powerful NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti. The GTX 1660Ti is still powerful stuff to work with though. It is more than enough in most cases to deal with AAA games, Adobe Photoshop and 1080p video editing on Adobe Premiere Pro.
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
For better colour accuracy for those software too, the Lenovo Legion 5i gets a nice IPS panel with 100% sRGB colour gamut like its more powerful and premium Legion 5Pi at 144Hz and up to 1ms response time. This is the perfect balance between raw power and budget. It does not feature the same front and center logo design like the 5Pi, but you still get an all-aluminium body build and the same Legion design of the Legion 7i
Lenovo Legion 5
And then there is the AMD offering that we also saw from AMD’s presentation for the APAC region yesterday. The Lenovo Legion 5. Yes, just the number ‘5’ without any thing like an ‘a’ or ‘R’. There is a small caveat with the AMD version for now though. The Lenovo Legion 5 only comes with up to an AMD Ryzen 5-4500H CPU.
There is no mention anywhere yet on whether or not we will see an AMD Ryzen 7 or even the Ryzen 9 variant pop up in either the Legion 5i or the Legion 7i, but we remain hopeful. Still, the Ryzen 5-4500H is AMD’s latest 4000 series CPUs that has proven in value and power. Paired to an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, the AMD powerhouse should still impress in games and even for workflow, especially when it comes to CPU intensive software like Adobe’s Premiere Pro.
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
At the same time you only get 8GB in RAM, but you can always add another one RAM stick into the notebook PC or upgrade the one that is already in the PC. Lenovo encourages you to do that apparently. They even have a guide to help you do that on your own on their website.
Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i
A top-end and a mid-range has to be competed with an entry-level. After all, accessibility to the products becomes a concern sometimes when it comes to gaming. That is the idea of the IdeaPad Gaming 3i (no pun intended).
The Lenovo IdeaPad does not have the Legion branding moniker. It is still no slouch though. You still get Intel’s latest 10th Generation Core i7 (up to). You also can spec it with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 if you want and it will be the perfect companion for both work and play on a budget.
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
The 15-inch display is still a Full HD resolution display and fast enough for plenty of games. You get up to 120Hz in refresh rate, which is more than enough for most use case and games. It also comes with some Lenovo Legion design work within the body. That means bigger thermal pipes for better thermal performance under load too.
Lenovo Legion Tower 5i
Their product range is not just limited to notebook PCs though. Although that is the current most popular platform, nothing beats the power of a desktop tower set up. Lenovo has that answer too with the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i that is set to launch in Malaysia later in the year.
They did mention a more powerful Lenovo Legion Tower 7i too, but unfortunately that is not coming to Malaysia. Still, the Legion Tower 5i is a powerful gaming PC tower than anyone can appreciate. You get two variants of the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 series technically. You can spec your’s with either an AMD Ryzen 3000 series CPU or a 10th Generation Intel Core CPU. You can also pick from a variety of GPUs up to an NVIDIA GeForce 2070 Super if you want.
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
While it is a tower, it is not that big of a thing and is designed to be something that is small enough and light enough to be as portable as possible. In this case, you can even take it out to a LAN party alongside a small monitor and keyboard and still get the benefit of gaming on a proper desktop rig.
Lenovo Legion Phone – the Future of Gaming Smartphones
Lenovo has not been in the smartphone game for a while. That is since they took over with Motorola. They did make some compelling smartphones and tablets in the past though.
Earlier in the year there are rumours surrounding Lenovo jumping back into the smartphone scene with a gaming focused smartphone. They dub it the Lenovo Legion Phone. There are no confirmation of specifications or renders yet about the anticipated device. We do have confirmation from Lenovo’s executives regarding the existence of the device and that we will see it somewhere in the late 2020.
There are still no confirmed dates on the device so far. The only thing we got from them is; “Lenovo will launch a Legion gaming phone in 2020. Please stay tuned for more information”. Which is not too much to work with. We are excited to see ROG Phone II, Black Shark II, and Razer Phone rival though.
Price and Availability
The Lenovo Legion 7i, Lenovo Legion Tower 5i, and Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i will be coming later in 2020. There are no confirmed prices for the three models mentioned yet too. We are expecting the Lenovo IdeaPad 3i to hover somewhere between MYR 2,500 and MYR 3,500 price point though.
The Lenovo Legion 5, Lenovo Legion 5i, and Lenovo Legion 5Pi will be available in Malaysia June 2020 onward. The AMD based Lenovo Legion 5 will be the most affordable option with prices starting from MYR 3,599. The Lenovo Legion 5 with Intel’s Core i5 will start from MYR 4,199. Of course, you can get that with an Intel Core i7 too. The top-of-the-line Lenovo Legion 5Pi will set you back at least MYR 6,399.
We saw ASUS launching a bunch of AMD Ryzen Mobile 4000 processor powered products two weeks ago. They were not the only ones jumping the gun before AMD themselves make their products known to the South East Asian market though. Acer did too with a new Acer Swift 3 powered by an AMD Ryzen 5-4500U.
Today, we see even more products that is supposed to be powered by AMD’s line up of the more powerful AMD Ryzen Mobile 4000 series CPUs. But a little bit about the AMD Ryzen Mobile 4000 series before we look into the line-up we are hopefully getting from manufacturers. They are more than just an upgrade from the Ryzen Mobile 3000 series line-up.
Source: AMD
AMD has been on a roll since they started with the Ryzen platform in the CPU world. They caused a little bit of a stir in the PC building community with the Ryzen platform and architecture. The AMD Ryzen platform is also the first CPU platform to introduce 7nm processing into the fold of PC CPUs. The competition is still at 12nm mind you, even today. Smaller, in this case, is better.
While the previous AMD Ryzen platforms were playing a little bit of catch up with the best that Intel has to offer, the 3000-generation changed that. This generation of CPUs also comes in a Mobile guise, a CPU designed for notebook PCs. That goes directly against Intel’s U and H series CPUs too.
The AMD Ryzen Mobile 3000 CPUs proved to people that notebook PCs do not have to be limited in power for work and gaming. They can be reasonably competitive in power while maintaining mobility and portability. All this also while costing less than both its competition and its desktop counterparts. Of course, being a mobile processor there are some compromises to ensure that battery life is sustained, heat controlled, and power consumption curbed.
Source: AMD
Still, the AMD Ryzen Mobile 3000 CPUs is prove that AMD knows what they are doing and that they are back to take the world by storm. In plenty of benchmarks, they have the upper edge on their competition. They are also fitting higher core counts in a single CPU than ever before, giving the PCs more power and more capabilities in both gaming and productivity spectrum. In most of the cases for productivity, the AMD Ryzen Mobile 3000 proves to be more powerful than its direct competition at that time. There is some lack of pace in gaming generally, but they are not as far apart as night and day.
Source: AMD
Source: AMD
The new AMD Ryzen Mobile 4000 is a statement that AMD can make even better processors than what was thought possible. The new processors are 7nm manufactured processors. This makes them the most advanced notebook PC CPUs around today.
Of course, just having more advanced stuff is not enough. The new processors should also be more powerful. That has been delivered with the AMD Ryzen Mobile 4000 series. They pack significantly more power than before as well. That was evident in their benchmarks against the older generation competing processors and against the newer generation ones as well.
There is a case of “win some, lose some” here though. In most games though, the AMD Ryzen Mobile 4000 series is now about on par or slightly more powerful than the current outgoing line-up of their competition’s 12nm CPU. In the cases of productivity software like Blender, or Adobe Premiere Pro, the AMD’s are still clear winners. The Ryzen 5 in the 4000 generation can also apparently easily processor and edit 4K files, a far cry from the Ryzen 5 of the 3000-generation AMD Ryzen Mobiles.
There are more numbers to explain the improvements they made to the new AMD Ryzen Mobile 4000. They are very good points too, in terms of what they have improved. We are not going to explain what each number means though. What you need to now about the new AMD Ryzen Mobile 4000 series is that you should really consider it as a contender in your shopping list if you are looking for a new notebook PC.
Source: AMD
Source: AMD
The new AMD Ryzen Mobile 4000 series is more powerful than ever whilst being a lot more efficient in power consumption. On paper, the competition might fare better in power consumption, but there are hardly any PCs that can match its quoted power consumption figure as well, so we always take that with a pinch of salt. The new AMD processors for notebook PCs are also about on par or slightly more powerful than its competition technically and they are slightly more future proof. The most important thing though, is that they are more affordable than the competition.
We have seen offerings from ASUS for AMD Ryzen Mobile 4000 powered rigs. We have seen one device from Acer that is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5-4500U CPU as well in Malaysia. Dell is fitting the potent CPU in their Dell Gaming G15, which is yet to be released in Malaysia. Lenovo’s 500 series Legion notebook PCs are also touted to come with the latest AMD CPU this year. We are expecting to see some consumer level budget notebook PC from HP and of course MSI will not miss out on the gaming boat with their offering to be revealed later in the year. There are no confirmations on the products that they teased. We only know that ASUS has already brought in their line-up of gaming notebooks and productivity notebook PCs with AMD CPUs.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI and ML) technologies have come a long way since its first inception. Who would have thought that we would have a working model of actual computer-based assistants that can do things like manage our schedules? Who would have thought that we could even use these assistants to manage our homes? These things can even be used to diagnose cancer patients, something impossible without doctors even five years ago.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is at the forefront of AI and ML technology. As one of the world’s largest technology innovators, they would naturally be at an advantage to feed enough data to the technology and accelerate their development. Because they are also one of the largest technology firms any man has ever seen, they are also at an advantage in placing AI and ML in places and applications we may never have imagined.
Linguistics is one segment that has benefitted greatly from technologies today. Linguistics, if you think about it is also one of the most complex things that us humans can create and understand. The context of it and interpretation can be affected by plenty of things too. Linguistics is affected by area, culture, community, heritage, and even lineage.
For example, there are differences between French spoken in France and Canada. There are even subtle differences between French spoken in France and Monaco, or even Switzerland. The most common language of all, English has differences even in spelling and context in Britain, the Americas, and even Australia. English spoken today is also a distinct form of the language that was spoken 50 years ago.
The progression of technology in linguistics have progressed through years and years of feeding all these data into it. That has allowed us to communicate with global communities with more ease than peeling an orange. AWS has taken it a little further than that though. They have gone beyond spoken or written languages. Through something called AWS DeepLens, they have developed translation algorithms to sign languages.
While that technology might sound like it is as simple as gesture controls, it is plenty more than that. Yes, it is technically gesture control and recognition. But it is way larger and more complex than just a solution for end-point devices. The trick is to teach the native algorithm to recognise all the available sign words and even alphabets. The AWS DeepLens Community projects so far has learnt to recognise most of the alphabets in the American Sign Language.
But technology also goes beyond just recognising alphabets to understanding proper words with the algorithm in Amazon Alexa. It is not just about communicating with your friends anymore. It is about using the platform as a home assistant tool, a customer service tool, a command center, and user defined PC experience that mimics voice control and command for us. Instead of using voice though, its all in the gestures.
The tool they use is called Amazon Transcribe. It works just like any transcribe apps you can find in the market. It supports up to 31 languages currently with more being added by time. It even supports ASL as a component to create text from sign language.
Simple communication is just the beginning for the technology though. AI and ML still has a long way to go even in the medical field. Just like the human race, the technology gets better everyday though. If you really think about it, the technology is not that new in the first place. We have embarked on the journey of having machine built and defined assistants since we started developing computers to help us with simple and complex mathematical problems.
It is just that simple mathematical problem solver has become something much bigger today. Who would have thought that we would let computers fly a commercial airplane? Who would have thought that cars can drive themselves today? Who would have thought that we could hire a private translator without spending any money or any time? You just have to look into your pocket.
Dell’s Latitude line up has been on that has had its focus on empowering a mobile work force. That focus remains ever present in their newly refreshed line up. With the current global situation, Dell’s innovations have been pushed to the forefront; some of which enable a remote workforce, empowered by technological advancements that make sense for productivity.
One of the innovations that has taken centerstage for Dell is Dell’s Unified Workspace on the Latitude. The approach to having a single, unified workspace whether working remotely or in the office allows higher productivity and less downtime. In fact, users are able to access documents, files and more remotely with their Dell Latitude setups. Setup and maintenance of Dell’s Latitude is a non issue for IT departments as they are able to image new setups remotely and have peace of mind as they are able to automate and utilise AI technology to keep everything up and running.
2020 Latitudes Have the Same DNA with More Power and Personality
This year’s Latitude line up keeps the same ethos but brings along with it a whole slew of new technological advances that allow it be more versatile and enable different workflows. The new Latitude mobile workstations come with a slimmer build, the same strength and pack more of a punch. The members of the refreshed line up come with nearly bezel-less, high resolution displays, slimmer silhouettes and some even come with multimode functionality.
This year, Dell’s Latitude line up is spearheaded by the Dell Latitude 9000 series. A new, ultra premium line up which comes with more functionality for increased productivity and versatility. The new Latitude 9510 and 9410 are the built to enable a mobile workforce with multimode versatility. The new laptops come with built-in AI that learns the usage and work patterns of the user and adapts intelligently to extend battery life and even keep sensitive documents private. The AI is able to reduce the hassle of signing in with ExpressSign-in while locking the PC as soon as the user leaves the desk. Both also support stylus input with Dell’s active pen.
The Latitude 7000 series has been redesigned for a more mobile and versatile workforce. The heroes of this redesign is the detachable 2-in-1 7210, and the multimode 7310 and 7410. The thinner, lighter form factor of the Latitude 7210 allows users to be more productive on the go and even adapts for constantly moving workflows with its tablet mode. The detachable keyboard allows for more robust work when needed. The multimode 7310 and 7410 allow users to adapt on the go with light-weight, multimode form factors.
Pricing & Availability
Globally, the Dell Latitude series will be available starting from May 19, 2020. Pricing per the table.
Model
Starting Price
Availability Date
Latitude 9510
USD$1,899 (MYR8,269.46)
May 19, 2020
Latitude 7410
USD$1,499 (MYR6,527.60)
May 19, 2020
Latitude 7310
USD$1,499 (MYR6,527.60)
May 19, 2020
Latitude 9410
USD$1,799 (MYR7,833.99)
May 19, 2020
Latitude 7210 2-in-1
USD$999 (MYR4,350.44)
May 19, 2020
In Malaysia, it will hit shelves at the End of June.
When HONOR launched their MagicBook Pro last year, the world went a little wild. There is a good reason for that. They offered the MagicBook Pro at a price point where no one has never seen before. It was still basically a HUAWEI MateBook X Pro. It was sold at a lower price point though. That also means that it is one of the most affordable notebook PCs in its class.
The new one continues that ethos of a powerful notebook PC for not very much money. The HONOR branded premium notebook PC is still an all-aluminium bodied wonder packing plenty of power. For starters it packs Intel’s latest 10th Generation Core i7 processor (up to). Specifically, the HONOR MagicBook is powered by an Intel Core i7-10510U processor. That main CPU is supported by NVIDIA’s new GeForce MX350 GPU too.
Source: GSM Arena
Storage wise, you are getting 16GB on board RAM. That also should mean that this notebook PC should play well with Adobe’s suite of software. You get up to 512GB of storage too with the MagicBook Pro. That 512GB SSD is fast but may not be enough to keep all the high-resolution media that you might enjoy though.
You do want to put some movies and videos in there with the Full HD display that is rated at 100% sRGB. That also means images and photos would really pop on the MagicBook Pro. That display measures at 16.1-inch in size. That is quite an unusual size, but its larger display also means that you would be able to appreciate the Full HD resolution even more. It even has a performance mode when you hit the function (fn) key and the ‘P’ key on the notebook; for when you play games, they say.
Source: GSM Arena
Source: GSM Arena
Source: GSM Arena
Source: GSM Arena
The HONOR MagicBook Pro will be available in Russia September 2020 onward. For Malaysia, we can expect the HONOR MagiBook Pro to arrive somewhere in the third quarter of 2020. That guess is based on the arrival of HONOR’s previous generation MagicBook Pro. The HONOR MagicBook Pro with Intel’s Core i5 will sell for RMB 5,999 (MYR 3,668) while the Core i7 variant is available for RMB 6,699 (MYR 4,096). Those are not Malaysian prices, we know.
