Extreme Windows Blog

New from NVIDIA: GeForce GTX 780 GPU and GeForce Experience App 1.5

Gavin Gear — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:03:23 GMT

Today NVIDIA has announced an exciting new GPU in their GeForce lineup: the GeForce GTX 780. Graphics cards based on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 GPU are available from a variety of manufacturers starting today, so won’t have to wait to order one! NVIDIA also released the first shipping version of the GeForce Experience app (V1.5) and updated GeForce drivers (V320.18) which are optimized for several of the latest DirectX 11 game titles including BIOSHOCK: INFINITE, FAR CRY 3, and Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2.

GeForce GTX 780 GPU

The new GeForce GTX 780 is a new high-end gaming GPU that offers both greater performance and new features compared with previous GeForce GTX GPUs.

NVIDIA’s new GeForce GTX 780 GPU (reference card shown)

Here’s a quick rundown of the GTX 780 compared with the GTX 680:

50% more cores
50% more memory
More overclocking options and features
Adaptive temperature controller (for quiet operation)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Specs:

CUDA Cores: 2,304
Base Clock: 863 MHz
Boost Clock: 900 MHz
Single Precision: 4.0 Teraflops
Memory Configuration: 3GB/384-bit GDDR5
Memory Speed: 6.0 Gbps
Power Connectors: 6-pin + 8-pin
TDP: 250W
Outputs: 2x DL-DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort 1.2
Bus Interface: PCI Express 3.0

If you’d like to know more about the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 GPU, please visit the official product page HERE.

GeForce Experience 1.5

Along with the GeForce GTX 780 GPU, NVIDIA also released the shipping version (1.5) of the GeForce Experience app, which has been in Beta until today. The GeForce Experience app is all about streamlining the process for getting the best experience out of your PC games running with NVIDIA GeForce GPU hardware. You can download the NVIDIA GeForce Experience 1.5 app HERE, and read more about this release HERE.

I installed the GeForce Experience 1.5 app on the Lenovo Y500 gaming laptop that I recently wrote about to give it a try. Since this laptop has dual GT650M GPUs, I thought this would be a great test.

GeForce Experience 1.5 running on Lenovo Y500 gaming laptop

The GeForce Experience app detected the game that I had installed (Need for Speed: Most Wanted) and the current graphics settings. Alongside the current settings you can see the suggested optimal settings. You can apply the suggested optimal settings with a single click of the “Optimize” button. Very cool!

You can also launch games, check for driver updates and download drivers, see system specs, and more. If you’re a gamer running GeForce graphics this app is something to check out.

Find me on twitter! @GavinGear

Dell Announces New Workstations: Dell Precision T1700 series and Dell Precision R7610

Gavin Gear — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:15:13 GMT

Today Dell announced some exciting new workstation PCs, the Dell Precision T1700 small form-factor workstation, the Dell Precision T1700 mini-tower workstation, and the Dell Precision R7610 rack-mounted workstation.

The new Dell Precision T1700 mini-tower (left) and Dell Precision T1700 small form-factor (right)

The new T1700 mini-tower now offers 150W for graphics and an expanded set of ISV certifications, providing customers with even more power and reliability – all at about the price of a typical desktop PC. The new Dell small form-factor T1700 workstation PC is an incredibly small and light workstation PC that takes up minimal space. Both new T1700 workstations offer next-generation Intel processors, your choice of AMD or NVIDIA professional discrete graphics and Intel integrated graphics. These workstations also have some great standard features like dual front mounted USB 3.0 ports and PCIx x16 Gen 3 slots. Pricing for both T1700 workstations will be released by Dell on June 4.

The new Dell Precision R7610 rack workstation

Today Dell also announced a new member of the Dell rack workstation family: the R7610. Compared to previous Dell rack workstations, this new rack workstation will offer:

Greater performance
Enhanced remote experience
New virtualization capabilities

For this new rack workstation, Dell has packed the hardware capabilities of the Dell T7600 tower workstation into a compact 2U rack form-factor.

In addition to 1:1 remote computing, the R7610 now enables up to four users to access the workstation in a virtualized environment without sacrificing performance, resulting in increased access and better utilization of their assets. The Dell R7610 can support up to four single wide graphics cards including the NVIDIA Quadro K2000, NVIDIA Quadro K4000, and AMD FirePro W5000 cards or up to three double wide cards like the NVIDIA K5000. Also of note is the fact that the Dell R7610 supports Dell’s Reliable Memory Technology, and memory capacity has been expanded to four channels with up to 256GB in 16 DIMM slots. The Dell Precision R7610 rack workstation will be available starting at $2,179 on May 21.

For more details, please see the official Dell press release.

Find me on twitter here: @GavinGear

How-To: Configure and Use File History in Windows 8

Gavin Gear — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:53:42 GMT

File History is a new feature in Windows 8 that automatically keeps a backup history of your personal data. I previously wrote a detailed article about File History in Windows 8 with a lot of detail about this feature. In this post I’ve created a video to show you how easy File History is to use, and how flexible it is for backing up and restoring your files.

In this video I talked about File History with photos, but File History works just as well for any other kind of file including office documents, videos, and any other files you have in your document libraries.

As a quick recap, most users will need to do the following to get going with File History in Windows 8:

Add non-library folders to document libraries (optional, if non-library folders need File History)
Populate “Exclude Folders” list for File History (optional)
Plug in an external storage device
Launch the File History Control Panel
Click the “Turn On” button

If you already have an external drive plugged in and use default settings, you will only need to perform steps 4-5 above. Now that’s easy!

Find me on twitter! @GavinGear

Hands-On With the Dual-GPU Lenovo Y500 Gaming Laptop

Gavin Gear — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:01:49 GMT

When it comes to the Windows 8 laptops I use, I want it all. I want a beautiful full-HD screen, a quad core CPU, lots of RAM, multiple USB 3.0 ports, plenty of disk space, great sound, and tons of graphics horsepower all wrapped up in a pretty package. Sound demanding? Yes I am, and I know you are too. The engineers at Lenovo are thinking about people like us because the new Windows 8 Lenovo Y500 laptop satisfies all of these requirements, and then some.

The Lenovo Y500 as tested with Dual NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GPUs, JBL speakers, and 1920x1080 full-HD display (click to enlarge)

The Lenovo Y500 was designed with PC gaming in mind, but it’s also a great PC for a variety of other tasks including photo and video editing, watching streaming HD movies, and running productivity apps like Word and Excel. And, since there are plenty ports, connecting displays or devices is no problem with the Y500.

Right side, from left: Headphone and Microphone jacks, USB 2.0 port with offline charging, locking receptacle (click to enlarge)

Here on the right side of the PC you can see the vents that cool the second NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GPU which resides in the optical bay area that Lenovo calls the “Ultrabay”. You can actually remove the 2^nd GPU (when PC is powered down) and replace it with other accessories including:

Second cooling fan
DVD burner – product link
Additional HDD – product link

Now that’s versatile!

Left side, from left: DC power input (not pictured), VGA out, Ethernet, HDMI out, USB 3.0 ports (click to enlarge)

Wrapping around to the front edge (user-facing) at the right-hand side of the picture above we see the status LEDs and SD card reader. I really like how the Y500 ports are integrated; things feel like they are in the right place to me. While the Y500 may not look like the traditional Lenovo business-class machines, it retains the high quality look and feel throughout.

The Y500 is a high-quality PC with nice exterior finishes and details (click to enlarge)

Another thing that feels right to me about the Y500 is the screen. The 15.6” diagonal size is great because it’s large enough for gaming and demanding tasks (like complex video editing UI) at high resolution. A 15”-class PC feels like the right balance of screen real estate and mobility for the kinds of demanding tasks I use a laptop for. Since I ride a motorcycle to work, I love the fact that the Y500 easily fits into my backpack.

Highlight: Dual GPU NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M Graphics

If someone mentioned a PC with NVIDIA dual-GPU SLI-enabled graphics, you’d probably think of a desktop PC right? Well the Lenovo Y500 laptop is available with the same kind of killer-gaming-pc dual GPU setup. When you pair this kind of extreme graphics with a full-HD 1920x1080 display, you have an amazing gaming and media capability that you can use anywhere.

From the NVIDIA Control Panel: SLI and PhysX settings for the dual GeForce GT 650M graphics setup in my Lenovo Y500

I had some fun with the Y500 running one of the latest DirectX 11 games: EA’s Need for Speed Most Wanted. Running at full 1920x1080 resolution and mixed medium/high settings, this game consistently held 40fps during gameplay, a great result for such a visually intense game. At these settings, Need for Speed Most Wanted looked awesome, and gameplay was very smooth.

Need For Speed Most Wanted Gameplay – 40fps at full HD resolution and medium/high settings (click to enlarge)

While I have had a lot of fun gaming on the Y500, I also get down to business with this PC and use it for my daily work. One of my productivity highlights with this PC has been photo editing (including images for this article). What made this a great photo editing laptop? The photo-goodness list includes the large high resolution screen, powerful accelerated graphics, USB 3.0 ports for my portable hard drive, and the great integrated trackpad. Any photo pro will tell you that display quality is paramount for photo editing, and I found the Y500 display to be extremely good for photo work.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 running on the Y500, the 15.6” full-HD is perfect for these kinds of tasks

Photoshop feels good on this PC, but it also runs fast thanks to hardware acceleration using the NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M dedicated graphics.

The hardware acceleration in Adobe Photoshop CS6 was configured and enabled by default following install, I love it when thing just work!

Note that Lenovo has recently started shipping Y500 PCs with the newer NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M graphics, so these models will perform even better with graphically intensive applications.

Here are some specs for the Y500: (full specs available here)

Intel Core i7-3630QM
RAM: 8GB (min), 16GB (max) DDR3
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M, 2GB GDDR5 (GT 650M tested in this article)
Display: 15.6" 1366x768 or 1920x1080

Find me on twitter! @GavinGear

Redditors: Ask the Panasonic Toughbook Team Anything!

Gavin Gear — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:07:40 GMT

Have you ever wondered how ruggedized PCs can withstand hard-surface drops, extreme temperature fluctuations, wet environments and more? I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be joining the Panasonic Toughbook team this Tuesday on reddit for an IAmA (Ask Me Anything) session. During this IAmA, we’ll discuss Panasonic Toughbook/Toughpad PCs, how these amazing products are designed and manufactured, and how/where customers are using these ultra-tough PCs.

Here on the Extreme Windows Blog I’ve been blogging about Panasonic Toughbook products (see posts HERE, HERE, and HERE). I’m looking forward to hearing more about how these products are designed and built, and also to hear about your experiences using these PCs!

Here are some specifics:

When: Tuesday May 7, 11:00am PST / 2:00pm EST

Where: Click this link

Want to join in? All you need to do is click on the link above, and sign into your reddit account (you can create one here if you don’t have one).

Find more information and news about this event here:

Twitter: @Toughbook, @Panasonic, @GavinGear
Facebook: Panasonic, Toughbook, Windows

Setting Up AMD CrossFire for 146fps 3-Display PC Gaming

Gavin Gear — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:44:32 GMT

I recently blogged about AMD’s CrossFire technology and showed that in some cases you can get nearly twice the fps when running two AMD 7970 graphics cards together in CrossFire mode compared to a single 7970 card. In this post I’m joined by Larry Larsen who works with developers on the Channel 9 network. Larry shares a passion for technology and is a fellow Windows Enthusiast so I thought it would be fun to ask him to be a part of this story.

Larry and I put together a video to show how AMD CrossFire works including:

Installing a second AMD 7970 video card and CrossFire bridge into a gaming PC
Configuring and validating CrossFire setup in the AMD Vision Engine Control Center
Demo: 3-display EyeFinity DirectX 11 gaming demo (3 x 1920x1080) with BF3 on Windows 8

The result with this AMD CrossFire setup is amazing! The FRAPS peak fps measurement shown below is for BF3 running in a 3:1 1920x1080 Eyefinity setup (for 5760x1080 total resolution) at medium quality:

Larry and I are working on more Windows enthusiast hands-on videos, so please stay tuned here on the Extreme Windows Blog.

Find us on twitter! @GavinGear, @LarryLa

Razer Edge: A Gaming Tablet with Extreme Horsepower

Gavin Gear — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:49:53 GMT

The Razer Edge is a new kind of tablet: it’s a portable high-performance gaming PC and also a device that can morph into four different configurations. The Razer Edge has impressive performance specs and is optimized for hardcore PC gaming. In this article I’ll share some of my experiences with an early shipping Razer Edge Pro unit. It’s a tablet like no other!

Razer Edge Pro 10.1” Intel Core i7 tablet with optional gamepad controller (click to enlarge)

When I got the Razer Edge Pro, I decided to load Dirt 3, a DirectX 11 game that I play frequently and have tested on several systems with different configurations. I set the game resolution to full (1366x768), graphics quality to high, and started a race. FRAPS indicated 65-70fps when running Dirt 3 at these quality settings, a very good gaming experience. This Dirt 3 game play demonstrated to me how the included dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M LE graphics performs with hard-hitting DirectX 11 games: it’s amazing! One of the other things I noticed when playing the game was the awesome sound quality. The speakers built into the Razer Edge Pro are impressive and sound much “bigger” than what you expect with a tablet.

The Razer Edge is a great gaming tablet, and there’s also a long list of special features and design details that are worth discussing. The illuminated Razer logo detail on the back of the tablet is really cool with its illuminated glow:

Illuminated Razer logo glows when the screen backlight is on (click to enlarge)

The Razer edge Pro also has a great screen. The image overall image quality for this IPS panel is high and it features good clarity, color, contrast, and brightness. Windows 8 touch gestures worked flawless for me (swiping from edges, dragging apps down to close, etc.) and the overall touch experience is very good.

The Razer Edge Pro without gamepad controller – this screen looks great! (click to enlarge)

With an Intel Core i7-3517U processor and 8GB DDR3 ram, this is a powerful PC regardless of the form-factor. Since this tablet runs Windows 8, you can run any app on it, including both Windows Store apps, and Desktop apps.

The Razer Edge Pro has plenty of CPU horsepower – 4 powerful logical cores

The Razer Edge is a very powerful tablet- but it’s also quite flexible. The design team at Razer was determined to make this gaming platform as versatile as possible – and that’s great for enthusiasts that want to use their PCs in a variety of places and for different tasks.

The Razer Edge (Pro and non-Pro) supports 4 distinct hardware configuration modes:

Tablet mode (tablet only)
Keyboard mode (with optional keyboard dock, not covered in this article)
Mobile console mode (using optional gamepad controller)
Home console mode (using optional docking station)

In Tablet mode, using the Razer Edge Pro feels a lot like using other Windows 8 tablets. But when you want to get down to business and start gaming, snapping the Razer Edge Pro into the optional gamepad controller (sold separately) turns this tablet PC into a unique mobile PC gaming console type device.

The gamepad controller has some awesome features:

Extended battery bay
Vibration feedback
Dual analog sticks with backlit buttons

Analog sticks (right-hand shown) include d-pad, many different buttons, triggers, and hat controls (click to enlarge)

After setting up buttons and controls the way I wanted them in Dirt 3, it felt completely natural to initiate drifting turns, accelerate, and brake in Dirt 3, all with the analog stick controls on the gamepad controller. I could play DirectX 11 games like this all day on the Razer Edge Pro.

When you’re done gaming (or want to do some mouse/keyboard gaming), it’s a good time to dock the Razer Edge Pro. My test unit came with the optional docking station, and I used it quite a bit while installing apps, charging the unit, and when performing related desktop type tasks.

Razer Edge Pro optional docking station – from left: USB 2.0 ports (3), HDMI out (1), headphone out/microphone in, power connector (click to enlarge)

With 3 USB 2.0 ports, you can run a dedicated wired mouse and keyboard and still have a port left over for another USB device (or hub). The integrated USB 3.0 port is also accessible on the top left edge of the tablet when docked. I ran an external 1920x1080 display via the HDMI output on the dock, and found it to be a great multi-display experience. It’s great to have extra screen real estate when the Razer Edge Pro is docked. Because this is such a flexible and powerful PC, I could imagine using it as a primary PC with great results.

Here are some specs for the Razer Edge Pro Tablet PC: (full detailed specs available here)

Processor: Intel Core i7 1.9GHz base, 3.0GHz turbo, dual-core, hyper-threaded
RAM: 8GB DDR3
Screen: 10.1” IPS Multi-Touch 1366x768
Graphics: Intel 4000, NVIDIA GT 640M LE, 2GB DDR3
Storage: 128GB or 256GB SSD
Weight: 2.1 lb

For fun, I have put together a couple wallpaper-sized Razer logo images from my photo shoot that you can download here:

1920x1080: (click for full size)

2560x1440: (click for full size)

If you are a gamer with mobility in mind or just need a mega-powerful tablet, check out the Razer Edge and Razer Edge Pro!

Stay up to date, follow me on Twitter!

MAD CATZ Cyborg R.A.T. 9 Gaming Mouse: Exotic PC Peripheral for the Enthusiast

Gavin Gear — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:45:33 GMT

I recently got my hands on a Cyborg R.A.T. 9 mouse by MAD CATZ, and was curious to see what this unique pointing device would be like to use, and how it would look on my desk. When I opened the box, I literally exclaimed out loud: RAD! This is one cool looking mouse. I want you all to see it; so here are some pictures I took:

The MAD CATZ Cyborg R.A.T. 9 Gaming Mouse is a work of art - (click to enlarge)

During the photo shoot, I started to see and appreciate some fine-points of the industrial design. The designers at MAD CATZ gave it a sleek, fast and mean appearance; I expected it to drive off the table. But how would this mouse work when I plugged it in? I was about to find out!

The charging dock plugs in via USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 – weight storage (top), battery charger (bottom) - (click to enlarge)

The design theme extends seamlessly through to the dock. It’s a wireless mouse and the dock looks fast. There’s a storage compartment for the extra weights (this mouse features adjustable mass!) and a battery charger as well. I love the idea of keeping one rechargeable battery in the wireless module and one in the mouse. That way, you never have to worry about losing your mouse during a pitched battle.

They charge the battery before leaving the factory so my RAT worked right out of the box. It has turned out to be a GREAT conversation piece.

Here are a few of the design features that I like/use with this mouse:

Thumb buttons: forward/back (gray buttons), “precision aim mode” (red button)
DPI mode button (behind wheel) – controls pointing accuracy and speed
Ergonomic adjustments – including extending palm rest

Form meets function: The Cyborg R.A.T. 9 works great and looks great - (click to enlarge)

The number of features and design details incorporated into this mouse is extensive. With several modes that include custom programmable functions (switchable via dedicated button), swappable plates and panels, and software configuration options, you can plan on spending a while getting familiar with and mastering the capabilities of this mouse.

Here’s some of the specs for the R.A.T. 9 mouse:

DPI: 6400
6 programmable buttons
Twin-eye laser sensor with separate measurements for X and Y axes
Acceleration: 50G
Polling rate: 1000Hz
Tracking speed: up to 6m/sec
USB interface: USB 2.0

The RAT’s precision aiming mode is great for gaming; but I discovered it’s also great for traversing giant multi-mon screens (like this one) and also having the ability to perform precision (low-speed, high accuracy) pointing. Having the ability to instantly toggle between high-speed and precision pointing is a killer capability.

I’ll have to admit- my favorite thing to do with this mouse is look at it- it’s gorgeous!

Stay up to date, follow me on Twitter!

NAB 2013: 6K Cinema Camera, 4K Tablet, and More

Gavin Gear — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:18:37 GMT

The NAB show (the biggest video/broadcast show in the world) is the best place to find out what’s coming for video and cinema technology. The new products and announcements at NAB 2013 present a new reality for video professionals: 4K DSLR video is here, affordable 4K cinema camera technology is a reality, and 6K production cinema cameras are here too. What’s more: 4K display technology is now world-wide (finally hitting the US market) and the PC hardware and software ecosystem is innovating rapidly to tackle the new and increased demands for post-production. In this post, I’ll share some of the awesome things I saw and got my hands on during a brief visit at NAB 2013.

Cameras and Camera Tech

RED Digital Cinema has officially broken the 6K barrier by releasing the RED DRAGON 6K digital cinema camera which records both motion and still images in 6K resolution at up to 100 fps! When shooting with the RED DRAGON, creative professionals will achieve even more image detail than the Industry leading 5k sensor and even more dynamic range than previous RED camera systems. 6K resolution also allows more composition freedom when downscaling to HD or 4K finished video files.

A fully functional RED DRAGON camera with accessories

But RED didn’t just show the RED DRAGON, they brought the assembly line to the show by constructing a clean room where attendees could watch RED DRAGON cameras being assembled. Furthermore, RED started taking orders for these new cameras on the first day of the show. The excitement in the air was palpable.

A lineup of RED DRAGON cameras being tested following assembly at NABShow

Some high-level specs for the RED DRAGON: (more available here)

Maximum resolution: 6144x3160 (19 MP)
Dynamic range: 16.5+ stops
Weight: 5lb (brain only)

One of my questions for RED was how this 6K capability would affect data rates and post production workflow. RED CEO Jim Jannard told me that while the images are larger in resolution, the DRAGON sensor produces cleaner images (than prior sensors) that can use higher compression ratios. According to Jim, this allows 6K resolution footage to be acquired at lower data rates compared with the previous generation EPIC 5K sensor using equivalent settings. RED also showed the new RED ROCKET-X 4K/5K/6K decode/transcode card, a 5x more powerful card than the original RED ROCKET card. The good news is that with RED ROCKET-X and REDCINE-X Pro, the new RED DRAGON 6K workflow is well supported in hardware and software. As I recently discussed with RED’s Ted Schilowitz, creative professionals looking for the most powerful post-production hardware are finding great options with Windows-based OEM hardware like HP Z-series workstations. I’m looking forward to pushing the limits with 6K workflows on Windows!

At NAB 2012, Blackmagic Design debuted a new camera concept and product: the Blackmagic Cinema Camera which shoots at up to 2.5K resolution and is available with Canon EF or micro four-thirds mounts. This year Blackmagic unveiled the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K which records on a super 35mm sensor at up to 4K resolution at 30fps (3840x2160) and carries a list price of just $3995.00 USD (current planned availability is July 2013). On the exterior this new camera is pretty much the same as the original 2.5K Blackmagic Cinema Camera, but this new model can record at 4K Ultra-HD resolution.

Blackmagic Production Camera 4K with Angenieux cine lens

Another interesting new camera from Blackmagic announced at NAB this year is the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema camera. Essentially the same size as a small point and shoot camera, this new member of the Blackmagic camera family offers many of the features that you’d find on a full sized HD cinema including an active lens mount (micro four-thirds), SD memory support, 800x480 LCD screen with enhanced focus mode, microphone input, and HDMI output.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera with ARRI 18-80 cine lens – crazy proportions!

Canon also had all of their latest cameras on display, including two that shoot in 4K, the EOS C500 super 35mm cinema camera, and the EOS-1D C DSLR cinema camera. The C500 is a unique take on the cinema camera concept due to the unique ergonomic design and other features. The C500 can record 2K streams to internal CF media, or 4K streams (at up to 4096x2160, 60fps) to an external recorder.

The Canon EOS C500 4K Cinema Camera with Canon 30-105 cinema lens

4K video has hit the DSLR camera market! The Canon EOS-1D C Camera is new (available since March 2013) and is the first 4K video capable DSLR camera. With its ability to record 4K footage (4096x2160, 24fps) without downscaling, this camera provides new video capabilities for the cinematic DSLR shooter.

DSLR? Cinema Camera? The EOS-1D C is both!

Director/producer Vincent Laforet was on hand at the Canon booth to talk about his experiences with the EOS-1D C. Vincent paired up the EOS-1D C with a truly innovative gyro stabilized camera system called the MōVI which you can see and read about in his blog post here (amazing). It was a pleasure meeting Vincent and talking about the challenges editors face with 4K footage in post-production.

Vincent Laforet talking about his experiences with the Canon EOS 1D-C and the MōVI

With so many exciting new camera products on display at the show (way too many to list) it was really hard to take it all in. One thing is for sure: 4K (and beyond) is a reality, and we are all in for an exciting technology transformation as 4K motion picture cameras become more mainstream over the following years. I’m looking forward to bringing you all more stories about post production with these amazing new cameras on Windows – there’s certainly a lot to talk about.

Displays and Hardware

So 4K cameras are great and all, but if you can’t see it in full resolution or can’t edit it- what’s the point? The good news is: there is a ton of innovative new technology specifically aimed at producing and viewing 4K high-res footage.

In case you didn’t catch the announcement at CES 2013, Panasonic is releasing the world’s first Tablet with 4K display resolution, and it’s designed for Windows 8! At NAB 2013, I got the opportunity to play with this soon-to-be-released Windows 8 PC, and I’ll have to say it’s amazing.

Hands-on with the Panasonic ToughPad 4K Tablet PC

The display on this PC is gorgeous, and it has awesome 10-point multi-touch support as well. I was surprised at how thin and light this PC is – I would consider it to be a very thin if it were just a display with no PC inside!

Panasonic 4K Tablet side profile

With a resolution of 3840x2560, the Panasonic ToughPad 4K Tablet screen is actually beyond 4K-UltraHD resolution (3840x2160). The 15x10 aspect ratio provides a nice layout as well. This is the ultimate Tablet to go along with your new 4K camera!

Panasonic also had a collection of amazing professional monitors on display, including the Panasonic BT-4LH310 31-inch native 4K 4096x2160 production monitor. I’ve been testing 4K displays with Windows 8 recently (including 2 4K displays run off a single adapter), and would love to give this one a try while color grading video footage.

You have to see the Panasonic BT-4LH310 31-inch monitor in person to appreciate the image quality

There were also several “extreme” 4K displays at the show. These mammoth display setups included projectors, giant TVs, digital signage solutions, and other large form-factor 4K display technologies. I could certainly use some of this equipment in my lab.

The Leyard 4K ultra-hd LED video wall is constructed of multiple panels

Post-Production Tools

There was quite a buzz around the Adobe booth at the show at NAB this year. Adobe was performing demos and presentations featuring some of the yet-to-be-named new and updated Adobe Creative Suite applications. I love how well Adobe Creative Suite applications take advantage of industry-leading extreme graphics capabilities on Windows (lots of accelerated features), and they have done a lot of great work integrating with 3^rd parties like RED Digital Cinema.

Adobe’s Jason Levine shows off the next version of Premiere Pro

It was standing room only as Adobe’s Jason Levine gave walkthroughs of the exciting new features that will be included in the next version of the Adobe Premiere Pro, including:

Redesigned timeline UI
Duplicate frame indicators
Paste attributes selection UI
New keyboard shortcuts for common tasks (Ex: nudge clip up/down)
Built-in Looks Browser with pre-built looks from Adobe SpeedGrade
DNxHD codec support built-in

I can’t wait to experience these improvements and to try out new features.

Adobe also ran interactive demos of the new Creative Suite applications in their booth, including the next version of Adobe SpeedGrade.

Adobe’s Colin Smith running demos of the next version of SpeedGrade on an HP Z820 workstation running Windows

The next version of SpeedGrade has some great new features including:

New Media Browser and Look Manager
Scaling optimizations for laptop users
Continuity Checker
Snapshot Browser
Shot Matcher

While visiting the GoPro booth, I met GoPro Software Technical Support Manager Jake Segraves. Jake is shown here demonstrating GoPro CineForm Studio Pro on a killer Alienware laptop running Windows. Did you know that extreme gaming PC laptops can also be a great video editing laptops? Extreme mobile graphics and large screens make these machines great for pro-video work.

Jake Segraves demonstrating Cineform Studio Pro on an Alienware Laptop running Windows

GoPro CineForm Studio is available in three different versions on Windows including a free version, a premium version, and a professional version. Each version has a different feature set, but with all versions you can transcode to a GoPro CineForm format (the supported input files vary by version of GoPro CineForm Studio). When editing GoPro CineForm-based media files you can achieve excellent editing efficiency and portable adjustment capabilities without the need to re-render. Jake performed a demo where he made color grading adjustments in GoPro CineForm Studio and then performed playback of the same file in Windows Media Player with no re-render (settings were applied in playback), very cool. Jake also performed demos of some of the cool 3D editing capabilities that are built into GoPro CineForm Studio. I’m looking forward to trying out 3D shooting and editing with my GoPro HERO3 cameras, and now I’m inspired to go out and do it!

My only regret at NAB 2013 was the fact that I didn’t have time to see everything. I’m certainly looking forward to using some of the awesome new technology I saw at the show, more on that as the story unfolds.

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Torture Testing the Panasonic Toughbook H2 Tablet PC

Gavin Gear — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:03:01 GMT

My first big experience with the Panasonic Toughbook H2 was to take it with me on an on/off road motorcycle trip (that story HERE). This was a great way to test the Toughbook H2 in real-world adverse conditions. The Toughbook H2 did great, but I felt I had more testing to perform. There were still some ruggedized capabilities that I wanted to try out with the H2 that I weren’t fully tested on my trip. Sounds like a good time for some torture testing!

In order to capture all of the fun running these tests, I utilized multiple cameras. I had a few GoPro HERO3 cameras in the studio, so I decided to mount one to the Toughbook H2, and also one on my head. I also deployed a camera man to operate a third camera and witness all of the abuse.

Onboard GoPro HERO3 was used to capture torture tests from the PC’s perspective (ouch)

GoPro view of the Panasonic Toughbook H2 undergoing some bounce testing

In the following video, I have some fun indoors and outdoors testing the ruggedized capabilities of the Toughbook H2. This video will give you a good idea of how tough the Toughbook H2 really is:

Testing the H2 was a lot of fun, and I can’t believe it withstands this kind of abuse. You definitely don’t want to try these tests with any old computer- you need fully ruggedized construction for this kind of duty!

Have a Toughbook story to share? Please leave a comment!

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Interview with Ted Schilowitz from RED Digital Cinema

Gavin Gear — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:06:01 GMT

I recently had the honor of hosting Ted Schilowitz (employee #1) from RED Digital Cinema on Microsoft’s Redmond campus. Ted presented a 4K technology showcase that included RED cameras, HP PCs with Windows post production tools, and a Windows 8 4K multi-mon setup run off a single AMD 7970 video card. Here is a picture of the 4K multi-display set-up from my lab during setup:

HP Z820 with AMD 7970 powering a 32” Sharp 4K desktop display (left) and a 55” Toshiba 4K TV (right)

Ted’s talk included a fascinating history of RED as they created the first viable digital cinema camera (The RED ONE). In the last 6 years, RED has progressed from a technology concept to a widely adopted system for shooting major motion pictures digitally.

Ted Schilowitz talks about films that are “shot on RED”

Attendees got the opportunity to touch RED EPIC cameras, and Ted delivered a quick hands-on training session to show how RED footage is acquired with the EPIC and edited on Windows with REDCINE-X PRO and Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. It was an awesome opportunity to get hands-on insights from employee #1 from RED.

Microsoft video professionals Eben Hall (back left) and Michael O’Neill (back right) get hands-on with RED EPIC cameras

One of a few RED cameras that were available for participants to hold, turn on, and shoot with

Check out this video with Ted as we discuss how RED is using Windows in their training programs (CAMP RED and REDUCATION). Ted gives some interesting insights about kids and technology adoption!

Here’s some links to more information about the HP workstations mentioned in the video:

HP Z-series workstations
HP Z820 RED Edition: ProMax (West coast), Tekserve (East coast)

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Hands-On With the New NVIDIA GeForce GTX-650Ti BOOST GPU

Gavin Gear — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:51:36 GMT

In October 2012, NVIDIA released the GeForce GTX-650Ti GPU which I wrote about at the time of its debut. The GTX-650 GPU lineup offers great performance at a budget price. Today, NVIDIA gives the GTX-650Ti a jolt by offering an updated version of this GPU called the GeForce GTX-650Ti BOOST.

The GeForce GTX-650Ti BOOST reference card installed in my machine

This updated GPU is still available at an economical price, but performance has been enhanced noticeably. At a suggested price of $149.00 for the 1GB configuration and $169.00 for the 2GB configuration, these cards are quite affordable.

The GeForce GTX-650Ti BOOST is a double-width single slot card

I was fortunate enough to get a card to use prior to the product release so that I could try the card with the latest NVIDIA drivers and DirectX 11 games. My test setup was a Intel Core i7 PC with 24GB RAM and a dual 1920x1200 display setup. The card I used has a great selection of display connections including full-size DisplayPort 1.2 port, full-size HDMI port, and two DVI ports.

GeForce GTX-650Ti BOOST display connectors

My test card has the larger memory capacity (2GB), and it runs Windows 8 and DirectX 11 games really well.

Here are some specs for the GeForce GTX-650Ti BOOST GPU:

Architecture: Kepler
Bus interface: PCIe 3.0
Memory: 2GB GDDR5 (1GB configuration also available)
Memory Speed: 6.0 Gbps
Cuda cores: 768
Base price: $149.00 (suggested)
Power connectors: 1 x 6-pin
2-way SLI capable

Some notable changes compared to the GeForce GTX-650Ti GPU:

Base Clock:

928 MHz (GTX-650Ti)
980 MHz – 1033 MHz (GTX-650Ti BOOST)

Memory Interface:

128-bit, 5.4 Gbps, 86.4GB/sec memory bandwidth (GTX-650Ti)
192-bit, 6.0 Gbps, 144.2GB/sec memory bandwidth (GTX-650Ti BOOST)

SLI Support:

GTX-650Ti: not supported
GTX-650Ti BOOST: 2-way supported

With a base price that’s the same as the original GTX-650Ti, the GTX-650Ti BOOST offers better performance without spending extra. With the added ability to run these cards in 2-way SLI mode, you’ll also have the ability to add to your graphics capabilities over time. This incremental approach can help your PC keep up with the ever-increasing demands of new-and-improved DirectX games.

Speaking of DirectX 11 games, I decided to test the GTX-650Ti BOOST by running a couple of the latest DirectX 11 games on my Windows 8 test box, starting with Crysis 3. For these tests, I installed the NVIDIA 314.21 desktop driver package.

Crysis 3 Test

I experimented with a bunch of different combinations in the graphics settings, and settled on “Medium” overall. Since the GTX-650Ti BOOST is optimized for 1080p gaming, I ran the game fullscreen at 1080p resolution.

Graphics settings used in Crysis 3 to test the GTX-650Ti BOOST

The resultant gameplay was good, and I was able to hold 40-45 FPS peaking at 55 FPS at 1920x1080, single display, fullscreen. For me, this test validated the performance and value of the GTX-650Ti BOOST GPU since Crysis 3 is a one of the most graphics intense games out there.

Awesome visuals, effects in Crysis 3 as seen running on the GTX-650Ti BOOST – yielding 55 FPS

Battlefield 3 test

After my Crysis 3 test, I thought it would be a good idea to try a game that I’ve found to have great performance on Windows 8: Battlefield 3 (BF3). This game has produced great FPS numbers for me on numerous setups I’ve tested and has impressive graphics/visuals/effects. This time I focused on the sweet-spot for this card: high settings and 1920x1080 full screen mode.

BF3 “High” graphics settings as used to test the GTX-650Ti BOOST

I was expecting great results because BF3 is highly optimized, and I was not disappointed. At “High” settings, BF3 was rock solid at an FPS range of 65-72 during active gameplay. WOW- for a budget-priced card, these are some awesome results!

BF3 Gameplay at High settings at 1920x1080 – an ideal setup for the GTX-650Ti BOOST and Windows 8

As a final test, I cranked BF3 up to “Ultra” settings, and experienced a very playable 45-47 FPS during gameplay. I was really happy with that result.

My only regret with this review was not having enough time to play more great DirectX 11 games. I may just have to do some catch-up on that… It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!

If you want great graphics performance and have a modest budget, check out the lineup of graphics cards built on the GeForce GTX-650Ti BOOST GPU.

GeForce GTX-650Ti BOOST represents a great value in performance graphics hardware

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Adventure Riding with the Panasonic Toughbook H2

Gavin Gear — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:59:20 GMT

The Panasonic Toughbook H2 Tablet PC allows me to get my hands dirty (literally). For readers of the blog, you know I tend towards the extreme use of technology. So when I had the opportunity to try out a Panasonic Toughbook H2 that can withstand dust, water, shock, and severe cold, I was all-in! So then, I convinced my team an adventure ride was in order.

What is adventure riding? It’s where you strap camping gear onto a motorcycle and head out on the highway, dirt roads, and trails while camping along the way. And bringing the Toughbook H2 would allow me to test the durability of the PC, and use Windows 8 to capture the trip from remote locations. I loved the idea of being able to use the apps I depend on, and being able to connect cameras and other devices to the PC to work with photos and video while the trip unfolded. All this using a PC that can withstand the bumps, shock, moisture and other extreme conditions on the trip. So, with the Toughbook in my hand (ok, strapped to my bike), we hit the road.

One of the many great views of the trip – snowy mountains near Waterville, Washington

The Toughbook H2 is a fully rugged handheld tablet PC. Here are some basic specs:

IP65 certified sealed fanless waterproof design
Display: 10.1”, rated for up to 6000 nit sunlight viewable (XGA) with anti-reflective anti-glare coatings, dual-touch and pen digitizer
Intel Core i5-2557M vPro Processor
4GB RAM (upgradeable to 8GB)
Rated for drops of up to 6 feet and to work under extreme temperatures (-20°F to 140°F)
Twin hot-swappable Li-Ion battery packs

This PC is even rated for what Panasonic lists as “explosive atmosphere” environments in the detailed specifications for the Toughbook H2- cool. Not sure I’ll test that however!

Panasonic Toughbook H2 in its element

In the above picture you can see examples of the weather-proof doors that cover ports and access bays on the Toughbook H2. When you place your thumb in the detent and press downward these doors pop open for easy access.

Here’s a quick tour around the outside of the Toughbook H2:

Top view, from top: Fingerprint reader, application buttons, Lock button

Bottom edge view, from left: 2D barcode reader (1D/2D capable), docking contacts, RFID scanner

Back view: Ethernet port and serial port (right)

Left side: USB 2.0 Port (left center), Battery 1 bay (right center)

Right side: Battery Bay 2 (left center), DC in jack (right center)

To prepare the Toughbook H2, I installed Windows 8 on it (this is a Microsoft Certified Specialized PC for Windows 8) and a few of my favorite apps I use to blog. With the Toughbook H2 and my mobile Wifi access point, I would have everything I needed to pull pictures from my cameras, write-up trip details, post to forums, check local satellite imagery, preview video footage, and even check email– from any place with Verizon 4G coverage.

I also brought some GoPro cameras to mount to our helmets – that way we could shoot video and take pictures while we rode.

GoPro cameras were used to capture video footage and extracted stills

These cameras take awesome video footage. I had the thought of capturing action still images (like water crossing shots) that I could not capture with a conventional camera. I loved the fact that I could connect these cameras directly to the Toughbook H2 via USB and pull footage and photos.

This trip did not present a friendly environment for electronics. The Toughbook H2 handled extreme duty tests including river water spray, dusty environments, and a hill climb crash that crushed/compressed the baggage compartment carrying it. I felt so confident in the Toughbook H2, I carried it on the bike in a compartment that was not waterproof. The waterproof enclosures for the GoPro cameras worked great as well as you’ll see next.

Would you take your tablet through this?

Entering the first creek crossing

Mid-way through the first creek crossing

All of these conditions and tests were no problem for the Toughbook H2– it’s a Tablet PC that is made for environments and tasks like this.

The sunlight readable screen was invaluable when we wanted to use the Toughbook H2 outside. The 6000 nit rating, anti-glare and anti-reflective properties enabled us to use the Toughbook H2 in direct sunlight.

Rob (friend and riding partner) watching head-cam GoPro footage on the Toughbook H2 in direct sunlight

This was the first time that I’ve taken a computer or a tablet on a trip like this, and having it with us was invaluable! We used the Toughbook H2 to download images from cameras, edit photos, watch video and extract stills, post pictures and updates on chat forums, charge devices, plan routes with satellite imagery, and more. I will bring it again for sure.

The Panasonic Toughbook H2 was fun to use on this trip in a real-world adventure setting. However, I keep thinking about the “explosive atmosphere” environments…. I’m not sure how to test that, but I do know I’m not done testing the durability of the Toughbook H2. Stay tuned for more updates!

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Scalable Graphics Power with AMD CrossFire

Gavin Gear — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:36:54 GMT

AMD CrossFire is a technology that allows the GPUs from multiple AMD graphics adapters to be used together so that graphics performance can be multiplied on your PC. If you want to push consumer AMD graphics to the limit, you can use up to four AMD 7970 graphics cards together with CrossFire to create an awesomely powerful gaming PC. CrossFire technology allows applications such as DirectX 11 games to tap into the power of multiple GPUs simultaneously for increased performance. Performance gains can be seen without any extra coding effort—but even more can be had if developers tune for multi-GPU configurations. While CrossFire is supported for both AMD consumer and professional products, in this blog post we’ll focus on the consumer side of CrossFire technology running with Windows 8.

The CrossFire bridge makes it possible for multiple AMD cards to work together seamlessly

AMD CrossFire is a great option when you want to have the most powerful AMD graphics setup possible, and/or when you want to have the ability to upgrade your graphics capabilities over time. With CrossFire you can start with a single AMD graphics card and add another compatible card at a later time. The graphics cards don’t even have to be the same in order to take advantage of CrossFire. Here’s a chart that outlines the current AMD CrossFire compatibility matrix:

AMD CrossFire compatibility chart – courtesy AMD – click to enlarge

As you can see in the chart, different graphics cards within the same family are supported by CrossFire which gives greater flexibility when upgrading to a CrossFire setup.

So how does CrossFire work? AMD CrossFire uses a single card to perform rendering, and one or more cards for distributed DirectX offload. GPU-compute workloads (OpenCL, or C++ AMP tasks, for example) can scale with extra GPUs, but these tasks won’t leverage CrossFire technology like DirectX tasks do.

The following diagram shows the most extreme AMD CrossFire configuration that’s possible today (quad 7970):

Extreme 4-card 6-display AMD CrossFire setup

With CrossFire, up to four cards can be used together, with a single graphics card used for output. In this diagram you can see how this extreme setup would be configured. On the right-hand side we see the maximum number of displays connected:

Diplays 1,2 – via Mini DisplayPort 1 to dual-link DVI
Diplays 3,4 – via Mini DisplayPort 2 to dual-link DVI
Display 5 – DVI
Display 6 – HDMI (1.4a supported)

We can also see on the left-hand side how three extra cards (gray) share the graphics workload, while a single card (white) actually renders the combined output to the displays. The red left-hand links between each card represent the CrossFire bridge connectors. Because the CrossFire bridge carries the primary data stream between the compute offload cards and the rendering card, the PCIe bus doesn’t get swamped with data. By preserving PCIe bandwidth, CrossFire plays well with other cards in the system.

All this sounds great on paper, but I’d rather talk about real-world results when it comes to quantifying the relevant performance gains. In order to provide some first-hand data, I took the AMD 7970-equipped Windows 8 system that I’ve used for previous blog posts (see here, and here), and added a second 7970 in CrossFire configuration.

What’s better than an AMD 7970? Two AMD 7970 cards in CrossFire!

Here’s how a CrossFire two-card install is performed:

Power down the system, access internals, identify two open PCIe slots (use top two full-size PCIe slots if possible)
Plug in the graphics cards into adjacent full-size PCIe slots
Plug in PCIe power connectors
Attach the CrossFire bridge between the two cards
Connect displays to one graphics card (I used top-most card)

Before you install graphics cards, it’s a good idea to make sure that your PSU can supply sufficient wattage to safely power all of the cards that you plan on using.

Here are some PSU guidelines for those of you wanting to run one or more 7970 graphics cards:

One 7970: 500W minimum
Two 7970s: 750W minimum
Three 7970s: 1000W minimum
Four 7970s: 1250W minimum

You’re now ready to boot into Windows and check your configuration:

Boot into Windows
Open AMD Vision Engine Control Center
Check CrossFire configuration (in performance group) – enable if needed
Setup Eyefinity display groups if needed

CrossFire settings in AMD Vision Engine Control Center (click to enlarge)

That’s all I had to do in order to get CrossFire setup on my AMD gaming system. Let’s see how this setup does with a DirectX 11 game!

In order to test CrossFire performance, I ran Dirt3 with a 3x1 Eyefinity display group setup (3 x 1920x1800 @ 60 Hz). I used maxed-out graphics settings in Dirt3 and captured FPS numbers for both the single 7970 configuration and the dual CrossFire-enabled 7970 configuration. The key metric for these tests is the performance scaling factor with CrossFire. With two cards, an ideal scaling factor would be 2.0X (twice the FPS with CrossFire compared to the single-card setup). Let’s see what happened.

Dirt 3 screenshot with max settings at 5760x1080

Side-by-Side FPS values: Single-7970 (left) and Dual-7970 CrossFire (right)

Pretty impressive result! If we calculate the scaling factor we get:

(CrossFire FPS) / (non-CrossFire FPS) = 88/45 = 1.96X

That’s extremely close to the ideal scaling factor of 2.0X! You can see just how far this technology has come since it was introduced in 2005. In early implementations, a scaling factor of 1.5X would have been typical. With a scaling factor of nearly 2.0X for a two-card setup like this one, a CrossFire upgrade makes a lot of sense.

While these tests were not scientific, they did tell me what I needed to know: AMD graphics with CrossFire scales extremely well, and enables big performance gains in DirectX 11 games on Windows 8. There’s definitely a lot more to explore here with CrossFire and Eyefinity- and if you have ideas of what you’d like to see, please leave a comment!

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Power and Portability for Today and Tomorrow: HP 8770w Mobile Workstation

Gavin Gear — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:08:01 GMT

I have used and blogged about HP’s 8770w 17”-class workstation laptop (see related post). It’s a top of the line mobile workstation that is capable of running the most demanding applications. HP’s workstation PCs share common attributes: Excellent design; powerful capabilities; reliable components, upgradability and serviceability to name a few. HP’s team incorporated these design considerations into this line up of mobile workstation PCs so you can enjoy productivity and portability all in one mobile package.

In this post, I’ll show you how HP has designed the 8770w laptop to be easily serviceable and upgradeable.

The HP 8770w 17” workstation PC – a powerful laptop for your extreme projects

If you have experience upgrading or servicing laptop PCs, you may have found it difficult to access the internals when performing these tasks. This is not the case with the HP 8770w laptop.

There’s only two simple steps involved to open up the 8770w for common servicing tasks, and no tools are needed other than your hands and a Philips head screwdriver.

Step 1: Remove the Battery

Before accessing the internals of the 8770w, it’s a good idea to make sure everything is powered down. That means removing the battery. This is simple, as there’s a single sturdy latch that secures the battery.

8770w battery removal

To remove the battery you do the following:

Hold the left-most latch to the left (exposing red marker)
Rotate the battery upwards, rotating it on the pivot point at the top-edge of the laptop

In practice, this only takes a few seconds if you’re familiar with the procedure.

Removing the Back Panel

After the battery is removed, it’s time to remove the back panel from the PC. This is analogous to popping the side cover on your desktop PC. Once it’s off, you’ll have access to the frequently serviced internal components.

8770w back panel removal

To remove the back panel you do the following:

Push the right-most latch to the right (exposing red marker)
Pull down on back panel until it exposes a gap approximately ¼” from the top portion of the rear access opening
Lift the back panel off the back of the PC

Now comes the fun part- let’s check out the internals of the 8770w.

Rear opening of the HP 8770w mobile workstation – access to most frequently serviced components

Here we can see:

24GB SSD cache module
802.11n Wifi module
RAM DIMM
RAM DIMM
Primary HDD bay
Secondary HDD bay

In this view you can also see part of the fan (upper right corner) and a spare full-size mini-PCI expansion slot directly to the left of the SSD cache module. It’s all quite clean and well designed. In just a few minutes you can perform a RAM and storage upgrade. I should also note that you can install a total of 3 hard drives in the 8770w by adding a hard drive expansion unit (tray + drive) that takes place of the optical drive.

To show you just how easy it is to upgrade the 8770w, I’ve prepared a video that demonstrates the removal and replacement of two of the RAM DIMMs, and both of the hard drives.

Note that there are an additional two RAM DIMM slots underneath the two that are exposed when the back panel is open. If there are one or more empty RAM DIMM slots present, RAM expansion is performed by adding RAM to one or both exposed DIMM slots. You can also upgrade existing RAM DIMMs with higher-capacity units if needed.

Having performed quite a few laptop upgrades and repairs over the years, I can say that I’m really impressed with the upgradeability and serviceability of the 8770w. It’s confidence inspiring to know that you can easily perform fixes and upgrades on this laptop without the need for special tools, and without voiding your factory warranty.

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