Spatial View, innovators in “stereo 3D content creation and auto-stereoscopic display” have created a new snap-on screen called 3DeeScreen that can turn the regular display on your laptop into a 3D display. Now you don’t need to shell out the big bucks for a new 3D laptop that requires special glasses or even more for one that  is specs-free.

Spatial View Brings 3D to Your LCD Screen

There are quite a few 3D laptops out there on the market, like the Qosmio F755 and the three models LG unveiled at this year’s CES. However, while these laptops offer the latest in 3D technology, they come at a steep price. Most of these laptops begin at around $1000 USD and go all the way up into the $2000-$3000 range. This is not chump change, as they say.

So for a respectable $129 USD, the people at Spatial View have created 3DeeScreen. The 3DeeScreen offers a high-quality lenticular lens, which is a fancy name for a magnifying lens that creates the illusion of depth of field, a hallmark of 3D technology.

The advantage of this kind of lens is that it negates the need for special glasses to be worn. And let’s be honest, if you have ever seen a 3D movie, halfway into the film, you’ve grown tired of the 3D specs and have taken to watching the blurred images on the screen just to give your eyes a break.

Spatial View also states on their site that they are working with “major Blu-ray player software vendors” to provide support for the 3DeeScreen so that you can watch 3D Blu-ray movies on your laptop. And yes, glasses-free.

The magnetized mounting frame on the 3DeeScreen makes it easy to install on your laptop. There are, however, some system requirements necessary to use the 3DeeScreen:

• Intel i3, i5, i7, or equivalent CPU
• Nvidia, AMD, or equivalent GPU for hardware-assisted video decoding
• 15.6″ LCD Display
• 720p or 1080p recommended screen resolution
• 640×480 with 30fps web camera
• Optional Blu-ray disc drive

At present, the laptops supported are the following:

• Dell Studio 1558, XPS L502, Studio 1557, Inspiron 1564, and Inspiron N5010
• HP Pavilion DV6 and G6 series

There is also some software that needs to be downloaded before you can view Spatial View’s content from the App Store and to watch other 3D material. And in case you wanted to take your 3D viewing mobile, Spatial View also offers a 3DeeLens for the iPhone.

So if you are a 3D aficionado or hardcore gamer that wants to take your gaming experience to a new level but don’t have the budget to purchase a new 3D laptop, Spatial View has a more economical option that will surely satisfy you on all three dimensions.

Qosmio F755 Goes 3D…Again

At this year’s CES, Toshiba showed off its glasses-free 3D gaming Laptop, the Qosmio F755. It is able to convert 2D Games into 3D on the fly, which was not the case when the device originally rolled out August of last year. At the time, the company said it was working with Nvidia to develop a custom solution. It seems they may have found it.

Toshiba has also announced that early adopters can now download the software update via Toshiba’s Service Station. The download will provide gaming support for those who bought the laptop early and will in essence make their devices identical to the one unveiled at CES.

The 17.3-inch laptop sports a Core i7 processor and 8GB of RAM as well as a Blu-ray player. The graphics are powered by a GeForce GT 540M video card. The Qosmio F755 is priced at $1499, which is about $200 less than it cost at launch. There were rumors circulating that Toshiba was going to announce a model with updated hardware, but that did not materialize.

The Qosmio F755 has a parallax screen that works using the same basic principles as that of the Nintendo 3DS. Glasses-free technology of this type has inherent limitations. Users soon find out that there is a certain sweet spot where the effect works best. The zone around the sweet spot where the 3D effect is still acceptable is relatively small. The 3D effect on the Qosmio F755 is largely dependent on the distance and position of a gamer’s head relative to the laptop’s screen. Annoyances aside, original stereoscopic images and video content usually produce good results. On-the-fly conversion of 2D content, however, is a much more hit-and-miss affair.

Qosmio F755 at CES

At CES, Toshiba allowed hands-on trials of the laptop running the popular Skyrim. Did it work? On the one hand, the Qosmio F755 did transform the game into 3D-extra dimension and all. On the other, the rendition was low quality to the point of affecting the core enjoyment of the game itself. That was just for Skyrim, however. Other games may be different altogether. It is also likely that original 3D games and official 3D conversions will produce better results.

It is difficult to say whether or not 3D technology will be the next big thing in gaming. Like in the movies, 3D is a nice novelty for the occasional film, but most viewers still prefer a two-dimensional experience. Shy of a Brainstorm experience, the 3D offerings of the Qosmio F755 may be the next best thing.

Samsung Series 7

The Samsung Series 7 Gamer laptop that was on display at this year’s CES is expected to be available in North America in April 2012. The device, which has been available in Europe since last spring, has been updated and will put Samsung in a position to compete in the competitive gaming market. The Samsung Series 7 is a purpose-built device. From the ground up it was designed with one thing in mind: hardcore gaming.

Samsung did not cut any corners when designing and building this laptop. Evidence of their focus starts from the motherboard itself, which has 8 GB of flash storage built in. That is more than just a nice add-on. It means that you can load an entire operating system directly on the motherboard itself, improving boot speed and overall stability and performance. System performance in any computer is closely tied to the amount of RAM onboard. Gamers will be pleased to know that the motherboard will support up to 16 GB. The most important factors in a gaming system though are undoubtedly your CPU and GPU. In these two areas the upcoming Samsung Series 7 shines.

Let’s start with the CPU. When the Series 7 launched in Europe, it came with the then impressive second generation Core i7 processor. Samsung has decided to sweeten the deal and has upgraded the processor. The US model will come with a third generation quad core Core i7 CPU. That quad core brute is capable of running the latest games at full speed without lags—that is, if it has a GPU to match.

For the true hardcore gamer their video card is perhaps even more important than their CPU. Samsung seems to understand that fact and has decided to also upgrade its GPU. Gone is the Radeon HD 6970M. In its place will be a new card by NVIDIA, the GeForce GTX 670M. This combination of CPU and GPU promises to not only run any game at full speed, it also promises to do so with the settings maxed out. That’s impressive.

The one aspect where the U.S. release of the Samsung Series 7will take a step down of sorts will be the display. The 3D display that is on the European version will not be available when the device ships stateside. There will, however, be a DisplayPort Jack that will give users an additional display option outside of the standard set of VGA, HDMI DVI, etc.

The Series 7 may be designed for gaming, but it does not mean that you cannot use the 17-inch laptop in more traditional scenarios. With that in mind, Samsung included a physical switch that will let you change power modes. You will be able to dial down the power when using the device for, say, watching movies off the included Blu-ray player or when simply browsing the web. When you are ready to get into some serious gaming, crank it up to turbo and the CPU will be clocked up and the keyboard will be optimized for gaming.

In hands-on tests, the laptop’s performance was impressive. When running a top-tier FPS (first-person shooter), it ran at full speed with no lags at max settings. When configured with 2 TB of storage, it is expected to cost around $1799 at launch.

Gaming enthusiasts that were looking forward to getting hold of the new Razer Blade gaming laptop as soon as possible won’t be enthused by the news that the laptop has faced production delays and will not be released as quickly as first announced.

Razer made a statement on the popular networking site Facebook to notify their customers that the shipments of the laptop will be delayed until mid- or late January (so too is the Tiamat gaming headset, also made by the company).

Razer made a last-minute decision to upgrade the hard drives from a 320GB HDD to 256GB SSD, an upgrade that will add kick to the overall performance. The good news is that the company has been able to make the necessary modifications without adding additional cost to the device.

The company could have easily used the upgrade as an excuse to bump up the price of the laptop. Maintaining the already hefty price tag of $2,799.99 stable was a good move. However, they were not able to put a stop to the delays. But if you are a diehard gamer, you already know that there is nothing like the Razer Blade laptop on the market. A little extra wait won’t spoil the anticipation, and it might actually add to it.

But for good measure, the company will be offering a Razer Orochi Blade Edition mouse as a bonus with every order of the new Razer Blade laptop. If you head over to the company’s Facebook page, you will find more information on the laptop’s release as well as an apologetic but heartfelt note from Razer’s CEO, Min-Liang Tan.

The Dell Alienware M11x always sported a reasonable price tag, especially when you compare it with the outrageously priced Adamo XPS. Now the ultraportable gaming monster has become even more affordable. Dell has dropped the price of Alienware M11x to just $599, perhaps in an attempt to clear out inventory.

Dell has made it clear that this is a ‘limited edition sale’. Anyway, the particular model on sale has a 1.3GHz Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor, 2GB of DDR3 memory, 160GB, 5400 rpm hard drive and Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit operating system.

The Alienware M11x has an 11.6-inch WLED panel with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. It also has a 1.3 megapixel webcam, NVIDIA GeForce GT 335M discrete graphics with 1GB of dedicated video memory and an integrated 10/100 NIC.

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