CES: Laptop-makers lap up Sandy Bridge

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, most major laptop manufacturers have unveiled notebooks featuring Intel's new Sandy Bridge chips.

The processors, which Intel is marketing as second-generation Core chips, have better power efficiency and integrated high-definition graphics capabilities than the first generation, although they still frequently come installed alongside discrete GPUs.

One of Toshiba's revamped laptops is the Qosmio X505 (pictured), which now comes with either Intel's Core i7-2630QM or Core i5-2410M CPUs. (The new generation of Core processors can be identified by the use of four rather than three numbers in the model names.)

The 18.4-inch machine is aimed at graphics-intensive applications such as gaming, coming as it does with Nvidia's new Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M GPU with 1.5GB of DDR5 memory. The X505 is priced between from $1,299 (£838) and $1,899.

Acer's refreshed line-up includes the Aspire 5750, which sits in the middle of the manufacturer's range.

The 5750 uses the 2GHz Core i7-2630QM with no discrete GPU. Its 15-inch screen has a resolution of 1360x768 pixels and it comes with 4GB of RAM as standard, although it can go up to 6GB. The base price for the notebook is $900.

Sony has unveiled a new 3D-capable laptop, the Vaio F, which uses an as-yet-unidentified quad-core Core i7 processor.

The 16-inch screen has a full HD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and the laptop comes with a button that, according to Sony, makes the machine convert 2D HD video and Blu-ray video to 3D in real time.

It has a 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 540M GPU and will cost from $1,700 when it becomes available in February.

HP's Envy 17 laptop is moving to the new generation of Core processors, and is also gaining the manufacturer's CoolSense technology.

CoolSense lets the user adjust fan performance, depending on the application being used. The new Envy 17 still uses AMD graphics, in the form of the Radeon HD 6850M GPU. No price or release date has been disclosed as yet.

Lenovo's IdeaPad V370 may be petite, with a 1366x768-pixel, 13.3-inch screen, but it can use a second-generation, quad-core Core i7 processor.

It also comes with 1GB Nvidia Geforce 315M graphics and Blu-ray options. The notebook is scheduled for release in April at a base configuration price of $600.

Asus's G73SW A1 is well specified, being powered by the same Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU as Toshiba's Qosmio X505.

With a chassis that perhaps more overtly suggests a gamer audience, the G73SW A1 has a 17.3-inch, full-HD screen. The device can be configured to take up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM and two 1TB hard drives, but its base price is around $1,900.

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