IdeaPad Z560

Lenovo recently released its latest multimedia notebook, the IdeaPad Z560, while HP has updated and expanded its lineup of AMD powered notebooks with the dv6z, dv6z Select Edition, and portable dm3z.
In what is becoming a weekly tradition here at laptopical.com, I'm bringing you some of the best new laptop releases of the week, and inviting you to let me know what you think. Did I miss something? Show you something you didn't know was out there? Let me know in the comments!

The Lenovo IdeaPad Z560 (pictured) was recently released by Lenovo. The multimedia notebook boasts a 15.6" LED backlit display with Core i3-i5, 3-4GB RAM, and 320-500GB HDDs. Dedicated GPU is optional too. Starts at $849.

HP has 3 new AMD offerings for you to choose from, 2 of which are updates and one of which is an entirely new model:
The HP dv6z Select Edition is an all new 15.6" laptop featuring either AMD Turion II or Phenom II, GPU (switchable), 4GB RAM and a 320GB HDD standard. There's also an optional touchscreen, an interesting feature. Starts at $799.
The HP dv6z is like the above but a little spec'd down, with a lower starting price, GPU optional, and no touchscreen option - still a great buy though, especially if you don't need those features. Starts at $749.
The HP dm3z portable 13.3" laptop features AMD's Athlon or Turion Neo II and has an optional GPU to go along with 3GB RAM and 250GB HDD standard (SSD optional). Starts at $699.

HP Pavilion dm1z

Our new release for this week is the HP Pavilion dm1z, HP's latest AMD addition to the Pavilion line. This 11.6" computer is branded as a full laptop while being a lot closer in size and power to a netbook.
 I'm bringing you some of the best new laptop releases of the week, and inviting you to let me know what you think. Did I miss something? Show you something you didn't know was out there? Let me know in the comments!

HP has been showing AMD a lot of love lately, and this is the latest in a host of new AMD laptops they offer.

The HP Pavilion dm1z is an 11.6" laptop featuring a range of AMD Neo CPUs from the single-core K125 1.7GHz to the dual-core K625 1.5GHz, RAM options from 2GB to 8GB, and HDD options from 250GB to 500GB or 128GB SSD - although right now the upgrade from 250GB HDD to 320GB HDD is being tossed in for free. The new laptops is also very portable, weighing just 3.24lbs and .78″ thin, and also packs a 7 hour battery life on the standard 6-cell. Starting at $424 after coupon, this is a very interesting new option from HP.

What do you think of these new releases?

Free Wi-Fi ?!?

In a move that assuredly brings joy to coffee drinkers and work-on-the-go types, Starbucks has just announced that they will be offering free WiFi at all their US stores starting July 1st. Not only that, but Starbucks is also offering the free "Starbucks Digital Network," with access to exclusive content, to make their WiFi offerings even more attractive.
One of the benefits of being a blogger that I have always enjoyed is the ability to work from anywhere. Or, rather, anywhere with internet. While Starbucks had formerly offered internet in their stores, the sign-up process was complex and it wasn't free - at $3.99 for two hours, the expense seemed unjustifiable to me when I wanted to spend 2+ or even 4+ hours in one sitting, as I often do (I do make sure to buy coffee and food when I do that, but paying an average of $10 or more a day for internet would have tempted me to go hungry). Although I do still go to Starbucks every so often, I can personally say that I have literally avoided Starbucks for no reason other than this. All this is to say, their lack of free WiFi clearly affected their business, even if I'm the only one on the planet who felt this way (I imagine I'm not).

So it comes as great news to me, as well as to anyone who ever has or has wanted to use WiFi at a Starbucks, that Starbucks WiFi is going 100% free starting on July 1st. I never really understood why they didn't have it before, but I am happy they've caught up with the times. In fact, they've done more than that, simplifying the sign-in process down to a single click and creating the Starbucks Digital Network in an attempt to differentiate them from all the other free WiFi hotspots out there.

The Starbucks Digital Network is, essentially, a partnership struck with a growing number of companies to provide some exclusive content for Starbucks users. The list of companies currently includes Yahoo!, WSJ, Apple and Zagat. Depending on how the user interface is, I could see this having some appeal for casual surfers, especially those with smartphones.

Starbucks may be a little late in the game - a little digging has discovered that we first called out Starbucks for failing to provide free WiFi over 5 years ago - but it's certainly better late than never. This is good news for laptops and WiFi capable smartphones everywhere.

Did you ever eschew a Starbucks coffee for another shop because of WiFi? Does this announcement make you any more likely to hit one up now? Let us hear about it in the comments.

HP Envy 14, HP's latest addition to the svelte Envy series

Our new release for this week is the HP Envy 14, HP's latest addition to the svelte Envy series. Despite coming in as the least expensive entry point into the Envy line, it strikes an effective middle ground between portability and power.
In what is becoming a weekly tradition here at laptopical.com, I'm bringing you some of the best new laptop releases of the week, and inviting you to let me know what you think. Did I miss something? Show you something you didn't know was out there? Let me know in the comments!

I am personally a big fan of 14" laptops. This is a recent thing - it wasn't long ago that I perceived attempts at crossovers as wasteful, since you ended up paying top dollar for something that was neither portable nor powerful. But I think technology has gotten there, and while I'd love for this form factor to get even lighter, more powerful and cheaper (strangely, I'd like that for all other form factors too ;)), it has gotten to the point where I heartily recommend such laptops.

And the fact that the HP Envy 14 is actually 14.5" is actually a comfort to me. 14" never felt like a true middle ground between 13.3" and 15.6" the way 14.5" does.

The HP Envy 14 is now available starting at $1049 after a coupon. It's not a low starting price, but it is the least expensive of all the HP Envy laptops, and has the same artful and stylish design as the rest of the series. The 14.5" laptop weighs 5.25lbs and the base price gets you Core-i3-370M, 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650, long lasting battery and perhaps most interestingly of all, packs a 1600x900 resolution standard.

At the same time, the HP Envy 13 just got a huge price drop, giving another comparatively inexpensive option for Envy lovers. This 13.3" laptop weighs just 3.8lbs, and has a nice coupon on it so that you can really spec it up and still end up paying only $1099.

New Geforce

Nvidia today launched a new mobile GPU, the GeForce GT 540M. Is this a new era of mobile graphics? Not really, which is why today's reveal of the GeForce GT 540M came without much fanfare.

The specs of the new GPU made on the 40nm process include 96 cores and a 128-bit memory bus. If that sounds a little familiar, that's because it's the same as the GeForce GT 435M.

The 540M runs at 672MHz, while the 435M is at 650MHz. On the memory side, the newer GPU is at 900MHz, while the older GPU hit 8000MHz.