Samsung looks to rival the Microsoft Surface with the Galaxy Book2-- a Qualcomm Snapdragon 850-powered "always on, always connected" laptop offering LTE connectivity and up to 20 hours of battery life.

Customers should not confuse the Galaxy Book2 with the recently launched Galaxy Tab S4, since the more recent Samsung device is a Windows 10 machine. It is very similar to the Surface, down to and including the adjustable rear kickstand and the (included) keyboard cover users magnetically attach to the tablet. The keyboard also folds into a stand, just like the iPad keyboard does, and stylus support comes as standard.

Dell-owned Alienware is the next company to make a gaming laptop promising to be both thin and powerful-- the m15 is 2cm thick and weighs 2kg, while still offering the specifications customers expect from a 2018 machine.

Inside the m15 are a 15.6-inch display (in either 1080p 60Hz, 1080p 144z or 4K 60Hz flavours) and a choice of either Intel 8th gen quad-core Core i5-8300H or 6-core i7-8750H processor, as well as either an Nvidia GTX 1060 or 1070 Max-Q GPU. RAM clocks at up to 16GB, and customers can ad up to 1TB SSD or 1TB hybrid drive. The battery comes in 60 or 90Whr versions offering 7.1 or 10.6 hours of video playback respectively.

HP launches what a premium ChromeOS device with a 360-degree hinge-- the X360 14, the slimmest convertible Chromebook from the company yet, with the hinge allowing use in 4 different configurations.

The x360 14 features a 14-inch 1920 x 1080 IPS display with WLED backlighting, multitouch support and an edge-to-edge design. Inside are up to 8th gen Intel Core i3 and i5 processors, together with up to 8GB DDR4 RAM and 64GB of SSD storage. A built-in HP Wide Vision HD webcam with dual-array digital microphones handles videochatting through Skype and the like, while audio comes through B&O Play dual speakers.

The Spectre Folio represents an unusual notebook design-- whereas other high-end MacBook-style notebooks are clad in metal, the HP convertible has an external clamshell made wholly out of leather, a first according to the company.

The Spectre Folio looks like a leather portfolio complete with accent stitching and smooth sheen when closed. HP says it is made out of genuine chrome-tanned leather, in a choice of warm brown or deeper bordeaux tones. The leather construction also brings about a different take on opening the notebook, since instead of folding the display backwards one pulls it forward, with magnets at the base of the key tray or edge of the bottom half holding the display in place.