A global memory chip shortage is pushing smaller device makers like Fairphone, Jolla, and Framework to rethink product design, order chips months ahead, and test incoming shipments for counterfeits. Fairphone's CEO says memory now accounts for nearly 60% of the bill of materials on its roughly $400 phones, while SK Hynix's chief has warned the shortage could persist until 2030, peaking in severity around 2027.
Best Buy is selling the Asus ROG Strix G18, an 18-inch gaming laptop with an Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU, Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 2TB SSD, for $2,699.99, down $600 from its $3,299.99 list price. The machine features a 240Hz IPS display, RGB lighting, tool-less access for upgrades, and Thunderbolt 5 connectivity.
Microsoft is holding a San Francisco event on October 7 focused on local AI's role in future PCs, with Satya Nadella, NVIDIA's Jensen Huang, and Windows chief Pavan Davuluri all attending. The event is expected to reveal more about the Surface Laptop Ultra, a device powered by NVIDIA's new RTX Spark chip that was announced in June without pricing or release details.
Google announced an 'Opening Night' event in New York on October 5 to formally showcase its first Googlebook laptops, which run an Android-based version of ChromeOS. The event follows the September 21 pre-order launch and will feature interactive displays along with the debut of the first laptop built for Gemini Intelligence. Partners including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo are manufacturing the devices, which include a lid light called a 'glowbar.'
Microsoft has scheduled an event in San Francisco on October 7th to discuss how local AI will influence the next generation of PCs. CEO Satya Nadella and Windows/Surface chief Pavan Davuluri will attend, alongside Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, hinting at a focus on RTX Spark PCs and possibly Surface Laptop Ultra pricing details.
A review of System76's Pangolin Pro laptop highlights its large glass trackpad, a basic 2-MP webcam, and an easily accessible chassis secured by nine visible screws that allows users to upgrade RAM, SSDs, and WiFi cards. The review also notes that AMD Ryzen chips still lack Coreboot support, meaning the laptop doesn't run fully open firmware, and praises the bundled Pop!_OS Linux with its Cosmic Desktop for a smooth daily-use experience.
Google has told sign-up subscribers and posted on its Googlebook website that pre-orders for its new Android-based ChromeOS laptop line will begin September 21 at 9AM ET. Partners including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo are building models, with Gemini AI features like the 'Magic Pointer' and custom widget generation built in.
A Reddit user known as Tsuto says weekly visits to their county landfill's electronics recycling area have yielded enough discarded SSDs, HDDs, GPUs, RAM and even a laptop to assemble a working Proxmox home lab server. The rig combines scavenged parts—mirrored 256GB SSDs, a 1TB SSD, and three 2TB HDDs in RAID1 for ZFS storage—with a Core i7-7700 and 64GB of RAM bought separately on Amazon. Tsuto also salvaged an Asus ROG laptop with a GTX 860M GPU, fixed with a $25 replacement battery, for casual gaming.
Laptops with trackpads that bulge or pop out are often showing a symptom of a swollen lithium-ion battery, which sits directly beneath the trackpad in most designs including MacBooks and Surface devices. Battery swelling happens when overcharging or physical damage triggers chemical reactions that release gas, pushing outward against internal components. Apple has previously run replacement programs for MacBooks affected by this exact issue.
A case report in BMJ Case Reports describes a home-schooled boy who developed a lace-patterned skin discoloration and burn-like breakdown on his abdomen after using a laptop on his lap for up to eight hours daily, often while it was charging. Doctors initially misdiagnosed the marks as bruising and treated a suspected lung infection before eventually tracing the damage to prolonged heat exposure from the device.
A tech guide outlines practical settings changes Windows 11 users can make to extend laptop battery life, noting that x86-based machines remain more power-hungry than ARM alternatives and that Windows 11 itself carries performance overhead. The top recommendation is lowering screen brightness via the Win + A shortcut, alongside other adjustments that trade some performance for longer runtime.
Google is said to be working on a new line of higher-end laptops, referred to as Googlebooks, that place its Gemini AI assistant at the center of the device's features. Details on specs, pricing, or release timing have not yet been disclosed.
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