Gateway certainly isn't the first brand you think of when you're looking for a stylish, classy, well-rounded notebook, but that's just what they aim to bring to the table with the ID49C series. Does a dash of aluminum and backlighting blended with a svelte build and mainstream hardware elevate the ID49C beyond the usual consumer fare, or are the engineers at Gateway solving the wrong problems? We take a look inside the ID49C and see if it deserves to be on your shortlist.

Over the years, we've looked at many of ASUS' mobile offerings. From the lowly Eee PC up through gaming powerhouses, ASUS has something for everyone. They're looking to increase market share in the mobile world, and with products like the N82Jv we're looking at today there's no reason they shouldn't succeed. The last time we looked at their multimedia N-series with the N61Jv, we liked the general idea but found the combination of a 16" chassis with a middling display and battery life to be lacking. Can the 14" newcomer change our feeling?

Six months has also brought a lot more competition in the realm of Arrandale laptops as well as laptops equipped with Optimus Technology. Besides packing more power into a smaller form factor, ASUS updated the exterior to help the N82Jv stand out from the crowd. Join us as we investigate this laptop and see where it excels, and where it could still use a bit more TLC.

When Fermi first launched on the desktop, we wondered how long it would take to trickle down to the lower end markets—and the mobile team also wondered if we'd ever see Fermi make it into notebooks. NVIDIA managed the latter with the GTX 480M, a lower clocked chip harvested from the full GF100. Now they're ready to launch the rest of their mobile lineup, with product schedule to start shipping later this month. Want to see what NVIDIA's brining to the table? We've got the official specs, though we do have to note that there are a few areas NVIDIA isn't discussing just yet. Regardless, we'll see plenty more Optimus Technology laptops and notebooks, and mobile GPUs may actually get the kick in the shorts we've been longing for!

There's an age-old battle between form and function. Some users will give up performance and features for a devices that looks cool, while for others the benchmarks are all that really matters. The ASUS U33Jc doesn't totally eschew function, with plenty of high-end features, but it does pay more than lip service to aesthetics by placing bamboo surfaces on the top panel and palm rest. The result is a unique look with an organic vibe that is sure to turn a few heads.

Four months ago, Alienware turned the mobile gaming world on its head by cramming a reasonably fast GPU into a small chassis with an 11.6" display. We loved the concept of an ultraportable gaming laptop, but we had a few complaints. Now Alienware has returned with the updated R2 model, sporting NVIDIA's Optimus Technology and the same GT 335M GPU. Added to that is an Intel Arrandale ULV processor, our first laptop to use such a CPU. That addresses two of the biggest concerns we had with the original, but does it make for a truly better laptop? Today we'll look to answer that question with our in-depth review.

A few weeks ago, Alienware launched a revamped version of the famed M11x, the world's smallest gaming laptop. We've been pestering them to get a review sample ever since the press release, as we know there's a ton of interest in the updated M11x. Much to our surprise, a package arrived unannounced yesterday with said laptop. We quickly unpacked the system and prepped it for testing. We already liked the original concept, and the R2 release improves on several areas. Specifically, the old overclocked CULV SU7300 processor was swapped out for a Core i7-640UM and the GPU now has NVIDIA's Optimus Technology to allow seamless switching between the Intel HD IGP and GT 335M. We'll be running benchmarks over the weekend, but today we wanted to present our initial impressions.

Today NVIDIA announced their latest mobile GPU, the GTX 480M. Based on the GF100 (Fermi) architecture, this will be a fully featured mobile counterpart rather than the "outdated" architectures we've seen with previous mobile GPUs (i.e. GTX 280M vs. GTX 280). Perhaps most shocking of all is that the GeForce GTX 480M should start appearing in notebooks next month, and we'll see SLI configurations at some point as well. NVIDIA has partnered with Clevo for this launch, and they're looking to give notebook gaming the biggest performance increase we've seen in a long time.

Last month we mentioned NVIDIA's plans for their upcoming drivers: the 256 series of drivers (don't ask us why they jumped from 197 to 256). Today, NVIDIA has released the first beta of the 256 drivers. We'll keep this short as our previous article already covered what this release entails, but you can read the full press release or just grab the drivers from NVIDIA and start testing. If you need a few buzz words to keep you interested, the new release boosts GTX 400 performance while adding support for Blu-ray 3D, CUDA 3.1, and OpenGL 4.0.

Over the past year or so, we've been watching the evolution of ASUS' U-series (and UL-series) of ultraportable laptops. The first generation ULxxVt models were highly promising, coupling switchable graphics with overclockable CULV processors in order to provide a good blend of battery life and performance. The ULxxVf models took things a step further by using NVIDIA's Optimus Technology to provide seamless switching between IGP and GPU workloads, all while keeping the same basic CULV platform. While CULV was fine last year, the recent onslaught of Arrandale i3 and i5 CPUs makes them look slow and outdated. Enter the ASUS U30Jc.

With the U30Jc, ASUS gives CPU performance a significant boost by moving to a Core i3-350M processor. There's no Turbo Boost on tap with Core i3, but the CPU runs at 2.26GHz and has other enhancements like Hyper-Threading that push performance significantly higher than CULV (and Core 2 Duo in general). Perhaps more importantly, ASUS has definitely invested some effort into making the U30Jc more aesthetically pleasing, with a brushed aluminum exterior that really pleases. GPU performance and the LCD are the only chinks in the armor, but for the $900 price tag, this is one of the better buys on the market.

Last week, NVIDIA held a conference call and presentation to let us know about updates to their Verde driver program. Initially rolled out in 2008, the Verde program was a way to deal with the difficult problem of providing updated drivers for laptops. Most OEMs will only update their official driver if there's a critical bug, and a single game failing to run properly generally doesn't qualify as "critical". The original commitment was to provide at least quarterly driver updates, which was good though obviously there was room for improvement.

Now, NVIDIA is ready to address the one remaining omission: timeliness of mobile driver releases. There are some other tidbits as well, but the big news is that starting with the upcoming May release, NVIDIA will have concurrent desktop and laptop driver updated. The drivers will cover everything from ION netbooks to beastly SLI notebooks, with only a few laptops missing the driver gravy train. Read on for more details.

Mobile users that actually use their laptop unplugged for any extended amount of time should absolutely love NVIDIA's Optimus technology. The ASUS N61J pairs a higher spec GT325M GPU with an Arrandale processor to bump performance to the next level. If you want a fast but balanced notebook, this is the new king of the hill.

Next generation products are always better... just look at Star Trek! At least, that's the theory behind the new NVIDIA ION platform, and it looks like the best thing for your netbook woes starting later this month.

NVIDIA's new Optimus technology is set to change the way we interact with our laptops. The information has been under tight wraps for the past couple of months, but today NVIDIA is ready to reveal all, and what's more you can even go out and buy an Optimus laptop right now—like the ASUS UL50Vf we're reviewing. Find out why your next laptop should include Optimus technology.