Event Coverage

Sitex 2013 - Notebooks, Networking, & Gaming Gear Buying Guide

By James Lu - 28 Nov 2013

Notebooks

Sitex 2013 Buying Guide

Sitex 2013 is currently taking place at Singapore Expo, at halls 4B, 5 and 6. The show is on from the 28th November to 1st December, and is open from 11am to 9pm.

There will be a ton of products at the show, so in this handy buying guide we'll be giving you tips and tricks on what to look for in a great product, specifically notebook, networking and gaming gear peripherals. But before that, check out a video roundup of top 10 new gadgets you might want to have a hands-on at Sitex and who knows, you might get some of them!

Buying Guide Index

 

 

HardwareZone Sitex 2013 Portal

For more on Sitex, including maps, brochures and Twitter updates, click on through to our Sitex portal.

 

Notebook Deals at the Show

Here are some highlighted Notebook deals at Sitex this year.

Acer Aspire R7

This 15-inch, full HD, touch-enabled notebook features a highly convertible design, thanks to its unique, high-performance Ezel hinge. It converts into a touch notepad mode that's ideal for drawing with the bundled N-Trig digitizer, and has an NVIDIA GT 750M (2GB) that lets you indulge in the latest PC games as well.

Sitex 2013 Offer

  • Sitex Price: $1698 (Usual Price: $1998)
  • Sitex Promotion: 2nd Year Local Extended Warranty
  • Brochure

Location

Hall 5, Booth 5A12, 5A28 (Newstead); Hall 6, Booth 6C10 (Courts), 6D10 (Harvey Norman), 6E10 (Best Denki), 5B30 (Gain City)

MSI GT70 - 20C

MSI's sleek Full HD 17-inch GT70 gaming notebook boasts a 4th generation quad-core Haswell Intel i7-400MQ processor and a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M GPU with 3GB GDDR5 RAM. It also has a keyboard made by Steelseries with a stylish multi-color backlight and x2 Dynaudio speakers with a built-in subwoofer.

Sitex 2013 Offer

  • Sitex Price: $2899
  • Sitex Promotion: Free MSI gaming backpack, HDMI cable, Metro game card, MSI gaming mouse and Metro gaming mouse pad (total worth $215)
  • Brochure

Location

Hall 5, Booth 5A12

HP Spectre 13

This thin-and-light 13-inch Ultrabook has a full-aluminum exterior that's as durable as it is beautiful. Complementing its good looks is a gorgeous QHD touch display with a 2560 x 1440 screen resolution. It also has an industry-first HP Control Zone ultra wide trackpad specifically designed to offer better control over Windows 8's interface features.

Sitex 2013 Offer

  • Sitex Price: $2499
  • Sitex Promotion: Free HP carrying cCase ($49), HP 2nd Year Local Parts & Labour Carry-in Warranty ($199), premium Smartcare Service Plan ($299), additional software pack for Touchsmart PCs (more than $240).
  • Brochure

Location

Hall 6, Booth 6A01

Aftershock Halo

The Aftershock Halo may be built like an ultra portable Ultrabook, weighing  only 1.8kg, and measuring just 20.9mm thick, but it's armed with a full voltage Intel Core i7-4750HQ processor, and powerful Intel Iris Pro graphics 5200 that gives it the computing power and gaming performance of a mid-range multimedia notebook.

Sitex 2013 Offer

  • Sitex Price: $1980 (Usual Price: $2126)
  • Sitex Promotion:Free upgrade to WD BLACK 750GB 7200RPM HDD (from Hitachi 5200rpm 500GB), upgrade to INTEL AC 7260 WIFI+BT ( From Realtek Wi-Fi + Bluetooth), color calibration service, special Samsung 840 128GB MSATA SSD bundle price.
  • Brochure

Location

Hall 6, Booth 6A60

ASUS Transformer Book Trio

ASUS' Transformer Book Trio offers a unique triple form factor function: use it as an 11.6-inch Ultrabook in its default mode; or detach the display to turn it into a standalone Atom-powered Android tablet; and finally plug the keyboard dock into a monitor to run it as a full system desktop PC. 

Sitex 2013 Offer

  • Sitex Price: $1998 (i7), $1698 (i5)
  • Sitex Promotion: Free Trend Micro Internet Security ($59), sleeve case ($49), mini-VGA/USB LAN dongle ($69)
  • Brochure

Location

Hall 6, Booth 6B01

Lenovo Yoga Pro 2

The Yoga Pro 2 is the sequel to Lenovo's very popular 13.3-inch Ideapad Yoga, and now sports a super bright (350nits), QHD+ 3200 x 1800 resolution multi-touch display. Like the original Yoga, the Yoga Pro 2 is able to bend and flex itself into four different usage modes. Besides the regular laptop and tablet mode, there's also a tent mode (for interaction), and stand mode (for viewing content).

Sitex 2013 Offer

  • Sitex Price: $1949 (free Samsonite bag, 2nd year extended warranty, 3 years subscription to McAfee Internet Security)
  • Brochure

Location
Hall 6, Booth 6B10, 6F24

 

Sitex 2013 Notebook Portal

 

Notebook Buying Guide

Whether you're after a lightweight touchscreen convertible Ultrabook, a subwoofer-toting monster gaming machine, or something in between, you'll be spoiled for choice at Sitex 2013. Read on as we give you some tips on choosing the right notebook for you and also show you some of the standout deals from the show.

 

NOTEBOOKS TODAY

With the introduction of Microsoft's touch-enabled Windows 8 OS we've seen a wealth of new convertible and hybrid notebooks enter the market. Of course, you'll still find slim and light Ultrabooks, great value multimedia notebooks and powerful, high-end desktop replacements too.

 

 

 

Convertible & Hybrid Notebooks are designed for Windows 8's touch-enabled Modern UI, utilizing a touchscreen and the ability to transform into a tablet-like form factor. Convertible Notebooks are defined by having a permanently attached keyboard section, while Hybrid notebooks utilize a separate keyboard and screen that can be docked together. If you want to get the most out of Windows 8, these are definitely the way to go, as they offer the dual-functionality of both a notebook and a tablet. 

Note that not all convertible or hybrid notebooks can be classified as Ultrabooks, as some of them use different processors such as the Intel Atom processor found inside HP's Envy X2.

 

 

Ultrabooks are becoming more and more affordable and make a great choice for anyone looking for a lightweight, portable notebook. All Ultrabooks must meet Intel's strict specifications which include an Intel CULV processor, thickness less than 18mm for 13-inch models, or 21mm for 14-inch models, a minimum battery life of 5 hours, a maximum of 7 seconds wakeup time from hibernation, and a storage transfer rate of at least 80 MB/s.

Ultrabooks are also available with touchscreens for use with Windows 8, however, we have found these to be less than satisfactory, and we recommend a convertible or hybrid Ultrabook instead if you want a touchscreen.

 

 

Multimedia Notebooks offer great value as they often pack top-of-the-line specs and other features not found on an Ultrabook such as a Blu-ray optical drive and better speakers. These notebooks will handle most tasks with ease and thanks to their discrete GPUs, can often be used for some light gaming as well.

 

 

Desktop Replacements are the most expensive notebooks available but are also the most powerful. Packing quad-core Intel i7 processors, powerful discrete GPUs, and full HD 17-inch displays, these machines are made to run the most intensive applications and games. Some also offer 3D displays or superior sound with built-in subwoofers.

Ultra-portable gaming notebooks are a new breed of notebooks that are slim and lightweight (compared to traditional gaming notebooks) but pack serious firepower under their hood, and are more than capable of playing the latest games at decent resolutions and settings. These notebooks typically have 13 or 14-inch displays, quad-core processors and a mid to high-end discrete mobile GPU.

 

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR

Processor: Most notebooks today use an Intel processor, but how do you choose between an Intel Atom, Core i5 and Core i7? Intel's Core i7 processors are the most powerful, with Core i5 following close behind, while Atom processors are quite a long way behind them that are meant for light content consumption needs. In our experience, only choose a Intel Core i7 processor on a desktop replacement or high-end multimedia notebook. The CULV-class Intel Core i7 processor found in Ultrabooks isn't much more powerful than the i5 version, and will also drain your battery faster.

Windows 7 or Windows 8 OS: While all convertible and hybrid notebooks will come with Windows 8 as standard, others may come with an option of either Windows 7 or Windows 8. If you're given the choice, you may want to opt for Windows 8 even if you don't have a touchscreen, as most notebook trackpads are capable of handling gesture and swipe commands that work just as well for navigating the Windows 8 Modern UI.

Screen Resolution: While a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels is considered standard for most 11 and 13-inch notebooks, some notebooks offer much higher resolutions, up to 1920 x 1080 pixels (Full HD) on a few models. Our preference is for a resolution of 1440 x 900 or 1680 x 1050 pixels as you an cram more information and do more on a given notebook size than the standard resolution screens. However, the latter could help keep costs down, so it's really a matter of your criteria in getting a notebook.

Check out the latest Notebooks and reviews at our HardwareZone Notebook Product Guide.

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