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ASUS ROG Flow Z13 Windows Tablet

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The 2025 ASUS ROG Flow Z13 features AMD’s Strix Halo processor, which is truly a great mobile processor with excellent integrated graphics.  This device is a bit chunky for a tablet, but if you like the form factor, this is certainly a great option.  This device also has integrated memory so both the CPU and GPU parts of the APU can share the same RAM.

Starting at $2000, these are not budget or value devices.  These are targeted at gamers who want top notch mobile specs in a portable form factor.  These should also be usable for mobile video editing and other intensive applications.  You probably won’t miss having a discrete graphic cards and if you need something more powerful a desktop or large laptop would likely suit you better.

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Voigtlander NOKTON 28mm F1.5 for Nikon Z Only

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Strange decision for Cosina Voigtlander to release this lens for Nikon only but it may have to do with the unique Nikon mount with its large flange diameter.  Although they do have a 28mm F1.5 lens for Leica M mount.

Cosina has posted sample photos from this lens on their website.  They look good but it’s always hard to trust photos from the manufacturer.  The bokeh does feel vintage which may be a plus or minus depending on your preference.

Key specifications includes:

  • Electronic contacts to communicate information to the Nikon Z body
  • 12-Blade iris diaphragm
  • Minimum shooting distance of 0.28m
  • All metal
  • 10 elements in 8 groups featuring aspherical lenses
  • Current estimate of price is $750 USD

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7artisan’s $90 18mm F5.6 Full-frame Lens

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Small wide-angle lenses used to be a very desirable thing.  Back in the film days there were many esteemed photographers who loved the manual focus 20mm F4 lens.  And F4 is a lot more versatile than F5.6, but for many landscape photographers they could probably get buy with this aperture.  It might also be useful as a gimbal lens.  The lens is basically a cheap, wide-angle pancake lens that weighs only 146grams.  It’s available for the Nikon Z, Sony E, and L mount systems.  Close focus is 0.3 meters / 0.98 feet.

The real question is how does it perform optically.  Early reports indicate a sharp center, weaker edges, reasonable distortion, and significant vignetting.  This is kind of what you would expect from a small wide-angle lens.  The vignetting may or may not work for your use case.

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Rokinon Remaster Slim Wide-Angle 3-Lens Kit

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Rokinon, aka Samyang, has released an interesting lens kit.  There is a base module and then 3 different sets of optics you can swap out inside of it:

  • 21mm f/3.5
  • 28mm f/3.5
  • 32mm f/2.8

These lenses are tiny and full-frame.  Check on the weight on the optical blocks:

The set is available for the Sony FE mount and comes at a price of $399 USD.

To make lenses this small there has to be sacrifices in the optical formula.  Sometimes these sacrifices can create an interesting look, and at other times they add offensive elements.  So how did Rokinon do? It looks like they came up short, unfortunately.

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ZOTAC Zone Handheld Gaming Device

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This handheld gaming system, the ZOTAC Zone, is a bit larger than some might want, but that’s the price to pay for great screen and powerful system.  If you look at FPS comparisons, this device is doing pretty good.  ZOTAC has certainly gained praise over the years for some of their products, especially in the video card sector, so let’s wish them success here.  Unfortunately for ZOTAC their software lags behind their peers but at least that is an area they can approve.

Key specifications:

  • AMD Ryzen 7 8840U
  • AMD Radeon 780M GPU
  • 16GB LPDDR5X RAM
  • 512B NVMe SSD
  • 7in, 1920×1080, 120Hz AMOLED
  • 2x USB-C ports, 1x 3.5mm, 1x microSD
  • 285x115x35mm
  • $799

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Lenovo Thinkbook Plus: What Is This???

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I normally don’t put three question marks in a title, but you have to admit this new screen is kind of funky.  Good for Lenovo for innovating.  Time will tell how useful this is, but we’re always happy to see companies actually doing something new or different.  Now the market will decide if this feature is useful.

About this crazy new feature, from Lenovo’s website:

By vertically expanding from a compact 14-inch display to a generous 16.7 inches by simple press of a dedicated key or through hand gestures to the camera, users gain nearly 50% additional screen space in a portable form factor, making it ideal for business users who need flexibility and efficiency on the go. This rollable feature allows professionals to adapt the screen size based on task demands, from document editing to data analysis and presentations, all while maintaining an ultra-slim 14-inch laptop footprint with a 19.9mm profile and weighing just 1.7kg.

Coming in June of 2025 and for $3500, this is not a cheap laptop.  Key specifications include:

  • 14-16.7 inch OLED display (120 Hz)
  • Up toIntel Core Ultra 7 processor (Series 2)
  • Intel Arc Xe2 GPU
  • Up to 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
  • Up to 32GB LPDDR5x-8533, dual channel
  • 66 WH battery
  • 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports, 3.5 mm jack

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UGREEN NASync iDX6011 and iDX6011 Pro AI NAS

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We’re not sure what the advantage of having a LLM (AI) built into your NAS, since the hadware will limit that LLM’s capabilities.  But hey, why not, right?

UGREEN has become yet another company to throw their hat into the NAS ring.  And while these new companies may be able to undercut competitors on price the real question becomes how well does their software perform.  A NAS with bad software is a very big problem.  It’s worth paying for better software, or even using lesser hardware, if the software is stable and efficient.

We were suprised to see the processor used as per UGREEN’s website:

The NASync iDX6011 is powered by the Intel® Core™ Ultra 5 Processor 125H, featuring 14 cores, 18 threads, and a turbo frequency of 4.5GHz. It delivers exceptional AI performance with three major AI engines: CPU, GPU, and NPU, providing a combined computing power of up to 34 TOPS. This ensures high efficiency across a wide range of AI applications.

The 6011 Pro will be equipped with the “latest” Intel Core Ultra Processor, whatever that means exactly.

There will be six HDD bays and two M.2 NVMe slots.

We don’t have any prices yet.  An interesting offering though.

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Synology DP320 NAS

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Synology is well established as a NAS maker and they’re frequently recommended as a solution that while not the cheapest “just works”.  And sometimes “just works” is worth paying for.

This device caught our eye as it’s not using Synology’s standard DSM operating system but instead is using their ActiveProtect system.  What this really means is that your NAS is now limited to the purpose of backing-up your data.  That may sound like a strange statement to focus on, since that is a primary function of a NAS.  But do not underestimate the other purposes and functions a NAS gets used for.  A NAS is a computer, after all, and can be used for an infinite number of other purposes, even when the processor and other specs are relatively weak.

The Synology DP320 NAS features:

  • 2 HDD bays
  • AMD R1600 (2 cores)
  • 8GB of RAM
  • 1 x 1GbE RJ-45 Port (Management)
  • 1 x 1GbE RJ-45 Port (Data transfer)
  • 3-Year warranty

The benefits of limiting the functionality of the device is that it should be able to do the job it’s assigned better, and more simply.  This does seem to be what Synology accomplished, to at least some extent.  So we cannot totally disagree with this approach but we do prefer the flexibility that the DSM operating provides.

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Lincstation S1 and N2 NAS

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Don’t confuse the Lincstation’s with the Buffalo LinkStation.  That is a bit of unfortunate naming.  This is from a newer company who crowdfunded initially and successfully which has led to this second generation of devices.  The hardware appears decent for its purpose and the price reasonable, so we actually hope that companies like this success with their offerings.

Key specifications:

Model LINPLUS S1 LINCPLUS N2
CPU Intel Alder Lake-N N97 Intel Alder Lake-N 100
OS UnRAID UnRAID
Memory DDR5 SODIMM, 8G On-board LP DDR5, 16G
Storage (0S) 128G eMMC 128G eMMC
Storage (SATA) 4-bay, SATA3.0 port, supports 3.5-inch HDD and 2.5-inch HDDs/SSDs 2-bay, SATA3.0 port, supports 2.5-inch HDDs within a 9.5mm thickness
Storage (m.2 NVMe) 2-bay, M.2 port, supports M.2 2280 SSD, NVMe protocol 4-bay, M.2 port, supports M.2 2280 SSD, NVMe protocol
USB Ports 2x USB3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2x USB3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 2x USB 2.0 Type-A 1x USB Type-C, 2x USB 2.0 (Full function, 10G), 1x USB3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
HDMI 1x HDMI 2.0, Type A 1x HDMI 2.0, Type A
RJ45 2x RJ45 (2.5 Gigabit Ethernet Controller) 1x RJ45 (10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller)

 

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