Melanie Pinola

Samsung Tuesday announced a faster Series 5 Chromebook netbook and, at long last, the Chromebox -- a mini-PC that also runs the web-centric Google Chrome OS.

Refreshed Chromebook

What's this? An unannounced 14-inch Ultrabook called the Dell XPS 14 has popped up on Amazon. The specs suggest this superthin laptop will give other Ultrabooks a run for their money--it's got an Ivy Bridge processor, Nvidia discrete graphics, an HD+ display, and 12 hours of battery life.

Dell XPS 14 (2010 Version)Dell released an XPS 14 in 2010 in an attempt to revive the XPS laptop line, but discontinued the 14-inch premium laptop last year. The old XPS 14 would have never qualified as an Ultrabook, with its 1.4-inch thickness.

The Asus Zenbook Prime Ultrabooks have knockout, full-HD IPS displays and other notable upgrades from the Zenbooks that launched last year. But how do these premium Ultrabooks stack up against the growing competition? Here's a quick look.

Gorgeous Display

Let's get straight to it: The new Zenbook Prime Ultrabooks have the best displays of any Ultrabooks introduced so far. The Zenbook Prime 11-inch UX21A and 13-inch UX31A and UX32VD all offer optional full HD 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixel) displays. This is a big update from the last year's screen resolutions -- 1366 by 768 pixels on the 11-inch UX21, and 1600 by 900 pixels on the 13-inch UX31. More pixels means you'll see sharper text and images, and you won't have to scroll as often.

If you missed last year’s free Xbox 360 with the purchase of a Windows PC deal from Microsoft here's some good news. Microsoft is repeating the offer.

Buy a qualifying laptop or desktop PC with a starting price of at least $699 (or $599 in Canada) and you’ll get a free Xbox 360 4GB gaming system with your purchase. The 4G Xbox 360 retails for $199.99, so this is a pretty sweet offer for students looking to buy a new laptop for school anyway. After all, hard-working students need some downtime too. (By the way, Microsoft has another Xbox 360 offer that doesn’t require a PC purchase or student status: $99 for the Xbox with Kinect—but you have to sign up for a 2-year Xbox Live Gold membership at $14.99 per month.)

AMD’s next-generation A-Series processors, code-named Trinity, are the chip manufacturer’s answer to Intel’s new Ivy Bridge processors now appearing in the new Ultrabook laptops.

How much of an improvement do the new Trinity chips offer laptop users and can these new Trinity-based laptops compete against Ivy Bridge? The reviews are in.

Ultrabooks are sleek, super-thin laptops that often feature a silver, wedge or tapering design--yes, just like the Apple MacBook Air.

However, despite Ultrabooks’ design similarities with Apple’s popular ultraportable, Ultrabooks really are a unique new breed of Windows laptops. They offer a distinct combination of performance, good looks, and features--some not available on the MacBook Air. Let's take a look.

Lenovo IdeaPad Z580Lenovo Tuesday officially announced its new portfolio of business-friendly ThinkPad laptops, IdeaPad Ultrabooks, and IdeaPad multimedia laptops. Come June, it'll be raining Lenovo ThinkPads and IdeaPads.

We got a peek at many of these refreshed laptops--except for the ThinkPad X1 Carbon--earlier this year at CES, but now Lenovo has revealed pricing and other details.

Lenovo plans to extend its ThinkPad line with business-friendly Windows 8 hybrid laptops similar to the convertible, flippable IdeaPad Yoga.

Making tablet PCs is nothing new to Lenovo. The company currently offers a convertible model of the ThinkPad X220. Instead of the screen swiveling and folding like typical tablet PCs, however, the new Windows 8 ThinkPad hybrids will likely flip back on its hinge, just as the IdeaPad Yoga does, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

HP announced a slew of refreshed and new HP laptops on Tuesday that should be shipping to retailers this summer. Among the newcomers are several HP Envy models and a business-oriented Ultrabook.

Premium Ultrabook: HP Envy Spectre XT

HP Envy Spectre XTHP offers the new Envy Spectre XT as an "ultra-stylish" extension of the HP Spectre line, which already looks pretty sleek thanks to its glass top. The XT will have an all-metal chassis (like similar premium Ultrabooks) and a slim bezel (like the Envy 14 Spectre) to pack a larger display in its small 13.3-inch footprint.

Laptop manufacturers are hard at work updating their laptop lines and making new models using Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge processors. If you’re in the market for a new laptop, however, it may make more sense for you to buy a slightly older laptop running second-generation Sandy Bridge and save a few hundred bucks. Here’s how to decide which purchase is your best option.

Ivy Bridge: Better Graphics Performance and Battery Life

Save $362 now on a Dell XPS 15z with a Sandy Bridge processor.As with every new chip release, Ivy Bridge promises improved performance and greater power efficiency compared to last-generation Sandy Bridge chips. The general performance boost for the new processor, though, isn’t really that much. In PCWorld benchmarks, the new processor ran only about 5 to 10 percent faster. You might not really notice a difference, especially if you’re running chores that don’t task the processor much--for example, if you’re browsing the Web or editing a document.

When Sony recently announced its first Ultrabooks, the Vaio T13 and Vaio T11, details for only the 13-inch model were provided, with no mention of pricing or Ivy Bridge processor availability for either model. Now German websites, including Sony’s official German site, fills in those blanks.

Detailed Specs, Pricing

The Vaio T13 and T11 are both now available for advance order and configuration at Sony.de. The main difference between these two laptops is the display size: The T13 has a 13.3-inch screen while the T11’s screen is 11.6 inches. Both are glossy displays with 1366-by-768-pixel resolution.

Wait until the second half of this year, and you might be able to get a super-thin and lightweight Ultrabook for just $599. These lower-priced Ultrabooks, however, will use plastic materials for the chassis, rather than the more pricey aluminum used today.

Despite their sleek and slim profiles, Ultrabooks are still a tough sell for laptop buyers because of the high prices. Current Ultrabooks have starting prices from around $800 to over $1,000--significantly higher than average Windows laptop prices of just $507 in March (per NPD/Laptop).