HP'S FIREBIRD

We admit we had doubts about HP/Voodoo's new Firebird gaming PC when we got an early look last December. We found the case attractive, and we liked the idea of an mainstream-oriented gaming PC with the polish of a boutique system. Our hesitation came from the fact that for its $2,000 or so price tag, the system lacks a robust upgrade path due to its fixed laptop-style graphics cards and custom motherboard. We also wondered whether gamers would be interested in efficiency and style at the expense of raw horsepower.After getting our hands on a review unit last week, our hesitation turned to admiration because the Firebird does so many things right. It really is a pretty-looking desktop, first of all. Its power efficiency embarrasses traditional gaming PCs in its price range by consuming significantly less juice (155 watts compared to 255 watts on a Dell under load, for example). The value is also there because its performance and features are exactly where they should be for the price. The Firebird can't dial up Far Cry 2 all the way, but it will certainly play it at most resolutions, and with decent image quality. The Blu-ray drive, the HDMI output, and the 802.11n WiFi even accommodate living room usage, which you might legitimately consider given the Firebird's attractive design.
We found it easiest to think of the Firebird like a laptop or an all-in-one PC. No, you don't get the full range of tear-it-down, built-it-up-again possibilities inherent to most desktops. If that's what you demand in a gaming PC, the Firebird isn't for you. But you also get something in exchange for the upgrade limitations, in this case a full-featured PC that's pleasing to the eye, and forgiving to your power bill. Given the Firebird's more-or-less closed system, we have to wonder why HP and Voodoo didn't simply make this an all-in-one. Perhaps that's next on the product development list.

SOURCE:NEWS.CNET.COM

apple iMAC

The short of it is that we like the new iMac, and we think most of you will, too. We love the price for the 24-inch display, and Apple's multitasking performance continues to make Vista look bad. We were surprised by the chopped down keyboard, which we didn't hate, but we're glad the full-sized version is still an option. We also find it interesting that Apple hasn't really responded to the Sony's and the HP's of the all-in-one Windows world by adding any major transformative features to the iMac. We don't think it's a problem necessarily, but we also wonder if Apple will be able to get away with it next time around.



SOURCE:NEWS.CNET.COM

inside dell labs

Desktops are rapidly shrinking category, and all the PC makers are trying to find ways to get consumers excited about them. All-in-one devices are apparently what the industry has settled on. Most of the biggest PC makers offer one, though the feature levels vary between the Apple iMac, Hewlett-Packard TouchSmart PC, Lenovo IdeaCentre A600, Gateway One, Sony Vaio LT, and Asus Eee Top

source :news.net.com

BMW DesignworksUSA's Level 10 case for ThermalTake

As you can see from the image, the Level 10 gives each PC component its own molded enclosure. We have no word on specs, availability, or price, although it appears to adhere to standard ATX motherboard design. You can read the full press release from BMW DesignworksUSA for the thought-process that went into the Level 10.
Assuming the Level 10 will make its way to retail, you will likely find it available as a standalone product, as well as from system builders like AVADirect, ABS, and others which typically build their PCs from off-the-shelf parts. Those vendors are usually anxious to adopt unique components, as we saw with AVADirect and the CoolerMaster Cosmos line last year, and we imagine the Level 10 will be hard for them to resist as well

source:news.net.com

Mac pro 3d

We've received a few e-mails since our post last week on Apple's new Mac Pro and its higher-end 3D graphics card option, AMD's Radeon HD 4870. Echoing the comments in the original post, some folks wanted to know how we tested. Others wanted us to test the Mac Pro in Boot Camp. Also, AMD wanted us to show actual test results to back up our claim that the combination of the Mac Pro and its Radeon HD 4870 card was not great for gaming, especially compared with competing Windows desktops

source:news.cnet.com

Core i7 PCs

Both Dell and Gateway launched Core i7 PCs in time with Intel's announcement of its new chip family last November. We don't know why HP has waited to make the switch, but with today's announcement of the Pavilion Elite m9600 desktop series, a quad-core Core i7-equipped HP can be yours starting at $949.
We've found Intel's Core i7 chips very fast, especially in the most demanding tasks like consumer-level digital media editing and multitasking. Core i7 has also been hailed as an expensive platform, as Intel is the only source for the necessary motherboard chipset, which also requires DDR3 memory, a pricier standard than more common DDR2 RAM. Those extra expenses are largely why AMD's Phenom and Phenom II, and Intel's own Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad chips are still common in lower-end retail desktops, although it remains likely that Intel will continue to ease pricing throughout 2009 to ensure wider Core i7 adoption.
Options for HP's new configurable Pavilion Elite m9600's are otherwise unremarkable. The only exception might be that the default 3D card, an Nvidia GeForce 9600GS, has 768MB of RAM, and all of the step-up models are 1GB cards. And here we'd just gotten used to the proliferation of 512MB cards. The larger video memory allotments won't guarantee fast PC gaming for all, but they will certainly help.
If you want to purchase a Core i7-based Pavilion Elite, HP's Web site is your only source for the moment, although we're sure the retail models won't be too far behind. That said, Dell's Core i7 Studio XPS systems start at $799. Dell's 3D card offerings include only 256MB and 512MB options, so you do lose a step in gaming performance, but if all you want is raw CPU power at the best price, it's hard to justify the HP's $949 starter price tag when Dell has such an aggressive bargain.

source:news.cnet.com

The Nvidia 896MB GeForce GTX 275.

Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 275 is slated to become available for purchase on April 14. And while we don't imagine that Nvidia could simply make a new 3D card appear overnight (nor do we necessarily know which vendor actually started taping out its new card first), we find it interesting that mere days after ATI called us for a briefing on the Radeon HD 4890, Nvidia got in touch regarding its own new product

source:news.cnet.com

24-inch aluminum iMac

If you were following me on Twitter last week, you probably know of the disaster that hit me hard Tuesday night: my 24-inch aluminum iMac, sporting a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive, failed.
I quickly determined that it was a hard-drive failure. I tried running Disk Utility off my Leopard install disc to repair it. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I then tried repairing the invalid sibling linkand invalid node structures. Once again, I failed.
Remembering that I also failed to pay for AppleCare, I decided that I needed to find a way to salvage my hard drive. So I tried connecting my iMac to my MacBook through a FireWire cable to get the contents off of it. That didn't work.
At this point, it seemed that I was out of options. I determined that it definitely was my hard drive that failed on me, so I could still use my iMac with a new hard drive, but there was one catch: removing the hard drive and replacing it would be extremely difficult, since unlike most other computers, opening the case with a few screws and popping out the hard drive was impossible with my iMac.
Believe it or not, that 24-inch aluminum iMac has only one screw on it, and it only gives you access to the RAM. To access the hard drive, I had no other option but to crack open my beautiful 24-inch iMac with the aid of suction cups. And I decided to share my experience with you.
Here's my step-by-step guide on how to crack open your iMac and replace your hard drive.

source:news.net.com

HP MediaSmart Server

Back in November of 2007, we took a close look at the HP MediaSmart Server ex475, a glorified network-attached storage drive that gathers, organizes, and streams your media content over a network.
The Server also gives users open access to their content from any Windows-based, connected computer in the world. About a year after its initial release, the new ex487 model arrived in early 2009 with significant tweaks to the user interface and a beefier set of internal components. Now, HP updates us once again with the release of a software update that adds streaming content to mobile devices like the iPhone and Sony PSP.
The updated software runs off the popular Microsoft Windows Home Server platform and flaunts a new feature that converts videos into two resolutions: the standard, high-resolution file and a new mobile resolution format (MPEG-4 H.264) version that can be played on a variety of mobile devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch, and PSP.
HP is also encouraging all iPhone users to download the new HP iStream application, free of charge, that permits mobile access to all digital media stored on a personal MediaSmart Server. Additional software upgrades include a more streamlined Apple Time Machine configuration, a more robust HP Media Collector, and the ability to create public and private albums from within the Photo Viewer.
The free software update will automatically download to all HP MediaSmart EX485/487 Servers later this month. For more hardware insights, check out our review of the HP MediaSmart Server ex475.

source:news.cnet.com

ATI Radeon HD 4770 3D

With a new 40-nanometer manufacturing process behind it, AMD announced the ATI Radeon HD 4770 3D graphics chip this morning. Available now on 3D cards starting at $109 (before a $10 online rebate), the Radeon HD 4770 is the first 3D chip built on the 40-nanometer process, which allows for faster, more power-efficient hardware than AMD's previous 55nm chips.

The various enthusiast review sites found the 512MB Radeon HD 4770 fast enough to play most current games at lower resolutions and image quality settings. Think 1,680 x 1,050 or lower and with little-to-no anti-aliasing. The Radeon HD 4770 also outpaced Nvidia's $95 GeForce 9800 GT on almost every test, and competed well with the approximately $130 Geforce 250 GTS (aka the GeForce 9800 GTX+). Its power consumption seems to stand out mostly under load, but its idle results showed little benefit.
If this new card delivers on performance, we still find it interesting that the boxed versions of the card from Gigabyte, Sapphire, and Powercolor each have a bulky fan bolted onto the chip. Each card will thus require the space of two expansion card slots inside a desktop (affectionately referred to as "double-wides").Traditionally, $99 cards have been single-slot designs, making them perfect for adding to smaller desktops or PCs with several other expansion cards. It seems that with the decline of dedicated sound cards, the 3D graphics card is making a PC land grab.
We hope to be able to get to a review of the Radeon HD 4770 (along with the other new 3D cards and CPUs we've missed), but we have a lab full of desktops at the moment, and more on the way. Until we clear the decks (August?), we suggest you check out the following enthusiast sites for in-depth reviews of AMD's new card

source:news.cnet.com

Acer Z5600

"23rd October is the date the Windows 7 will be available. There is a 30 day upgrade time so that customers don't wait to buy a new computer, so if you buy during that 30 day period, you'll get a free upgrade to Windows 7," Watkins is quoted as saying.
That's also the day Acer will release its Z5600 PC, an all-in-one desktop built specifically around Windows 7 features.
Microsoft has previously stated that the final version of Windows 7 won't be ready until January 2010. The first release candidate of the new operating system will be available Thursday to some developers and to the public next week.

source:news.cnet.com

intel core i7 920 chip

We've seen the Core i7 920 chip overclocked successfully. A chip bumped up to 3.88GHz in a system from AVADirect passed an overnight Prime95 run last week with no throttling, and at reasonable temperatures. That it's possible to squeeze $700 worth of performance from a $250 CPU is exciting for you and for your customers. However, as should be obvious, overclocking a CPU shouldn't come at the expense of system stability.
Call us foolish optimists, but we won't name names of the systems that failed because both of you had plausible explanations. The blue-screened desktop had been shipped multiple times to multiple review outlets. Neither shipping nor reviewing is a particularly gentle process.
The PC that throttled down came with what you told us was an outdated BIOS. You're not selling this PC yet, so we're willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. We look forward to trying out the new BIOS you said you'd e-mail us.
So, PC Industry, consider yourself on notice. We weren't too concerned about your previous overclocking attempts that went 10 or 20 percent above stock. Now that you're aspiring to 50 percent performance gains, we're going to require two things:
You must acknowledge on your Web site that you offer CPU overclocking, and that the speeds you can achieve will vary from chip to chip. Most of you already do this.
Your overclocked PC must be stable enough to survive a 24-hour run of Prime95 in our lab.
If you fail to declare that you overclock and the limits thereof on your Web site, we will decline to review your PC above its stock component settings. If you send it to us anyway, we can send it back or clock it down, your call. We'll take failure to complete Prime95 on a case-by-case basis. Repeated failure will very likely result in a public reprimand.

source:news.cnet.com

FIRST SSD-RIPPING NAS DEVICE

network attached storage devices this week--the Statement series--in solid-state drive and hard-disk drive formats. The RipNAS Statement is purported as the first CD ripping NAS device to come equipped with the former.
Based on the Windows Home Server OS and housed in a silver aluminum casing (designed to eliminate noise pollution), the Statement is capable of CD ripping, media streaming, and networked storage on either the 500GB SSD configuration (2 x 250GB SSDs) or the 3TB HDD configuration (2 x 1.5TB HDDs). The entire case measures 10 x 43 x 38 cm and is powered by a dual-core Atom CPU, has 2GBs of memory, and 4 USB ports.
It looks like the UK will get first dibs on the RipNAS Statement SSD and HDD for now, but no pricing information has been announced, nor the date it will be available in the U.S.

source:news.cnet.com

Sony vAIo JS250J

The bottom line: Instead of succumbing to the latest fads, Sony's Vaio's JS250J all-in-one PC stays the course pioneered by its models from last year, delivering capable performance and best-of-breed home entertainment features at a better price than its all-in-one competition. The Vaio JS250J will appeal to anyone in need of a multipurpose home PC.
Specifications: Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 (2.5 GHz) ; Clock speed: 2.5 GHz ; RAM installed: 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM

SOURCE:NEWS.CNET.COM

e Machines EL 1209

Available exclusively at Wal-Mart, the EL1300G comes in two flavors. The EL1300G-01w goes for $298, which gets you a standalone PC with Windows Vista Home Basic, a low-power AMD Athlon 2650e CPU, 2GB of RAM, a DVD burner, and a 160GB hard drive. The $398 EL1300G-02w comes with a 20-inch LCD, and is otherwise identical to the 01w except for Windows XP Home Edition, and only 1GB of RAM.
Each system also comes with a wired mouse and keyboard, as well as a set of 2.0 USB speakers.
eMachines keeps the prices down by keeping things simple, so you won't even find a DVI video port on these models, much less an HDMI output. That gives the EL1300 series less living room appeal than other slim-tower and small form factor desktops, like the much-admired Acer Aspire X1700. And while we have yet to test an Athlon 2650e-based system, by all accounts it has a similar power profile to Intel's Atom CPU so favored in nettops, but with significantly faster performance. We're eager to get our hands on an EL1300G to find out for ourselves.

SOURCE:NEWS.CNET.COM

Asus W90(Laptop)

Design In some ways, the W90 isn't very well thought through and is actually rather rubbish. We're not saying that because it's not fast or well-equipped, but because it's so damn heavy. The weedy, game-obsessed teens that need it the most will struggle to get it out of the box. It weighs a back-breaking 6kg and measures 443 by 328 by 63mm for goodness sake! Don't even think about using it on your lap -- unless your knees are reinforced with Kevlar.

But despite it being massive, the W90 is actually quite good-looking. There's not a single garish colour in sight and any flashing lights are purely functional. The lid and interior section are primarily finished in a conservative brushed-metal effect, and it even has touches of leather on either side of the keyboard. It is, in our humble opinion, the best-looking gaming laptop ever created.
Open the lid and you'll be greeted by a full-size keyboard complete with a dedicated numerical keypad. To the left of this is an array of touch-sensitive buttons for adjusting the volume and skipping forward or backwards through tracks. More touch-sensitive buttons can be found above the keyboard. These, in order of appearance from left to right, mute the volume, toggle the activation of the mouse trackpad, adjust the brightness of the screen, switch the display's colour mode, zoom in or out of the screen, activate or deactivate the 2-megapixel webcam, or overclock the W90. That's right -- the W90 is overclockable at the touch of a button, but more on that later.
FeaturesThe W90 is available in a variety of specifications, depending on which part of the world you're in and where you buy it from. Here in the UK, it'll ship with an Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 clocked at 2.66GHz, but if you're serious about speed, you can also cop one with an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000. Any CPU inside your chosen W90 can be overclocked at the touch of a button. Our 2.66GHz T9550 leapt up to 2.96GHz, which is a pretty respectable increase

source:uk.co.net

HP Photosmart A826(Printer)

DesignThe HP Photosmart A826 is all smooth plastic and rounded edges. Its design is pod-like, resembling the 1950s take on futuristic, space-age design -- it would be right at home in Disney's House of the Future exhibit from the late '50s.

It sits about 264mm wide at the base with a narrower top, about 244mm deep, and about 274mm tall. It weighs about a light 3kg. The printer's top panel flips up for paper loading. Unlike most snapshot printers, the paper is fully contained within the body of the printer. You can load up to 100 sheets of 152 by 102mm or 178 by 127mm paper and close the lid, thereby protecting stored paper from dust.
The control panel on the Photosmart A826 couldn't be simpler -- basically, there isn't one. When you flip down the front cover/paper output tray, you're faced with four memory card slots and a PictBridge USB port, as well as a plastic stylus in its own holder.
All of the functionality is accessed through the 178mm (7-inch) touchscreen display. The large screen makes it a pleasure to peruse images, and the screen is nicely responsive to touch, though we found it prefers the stylus to a finger. Also, the stylus doesn't leave unsightly fingerprints.
A small panel on the printer's front hides the single print cartridge. Replacing the print cartridge alone costs about £10, and HP estimates that it will print about 55 152 by 102mm photos.
FeaturesThe Photosmart A826 is geared toward standalone, PC-free use, so most of its features are packed right into the touchscreen. While you can set up the A826 to print from a PC, the four memory card slots and PictBridge port make it easy to print from a memory card or PictBridge device like a camera or camera phone. For wireless printing, HP offers an optional USB Bluetooth adapter.
Setup is simple: Plug in the power, select your language and location and then the printer prompts you to insert a card. When you do, the printer calls up the files in a nine-image thumbnail view. To select a photo for printing and/or editing, simply touch the check box. To zoom in on a single image, touch the centre of the thumbnail. At this point, you can select all of the images or step through them in groups of nine or one by one

source: reviews.cnet.co.uk

HP Photosmart C8180 (printer)

DesignThe design of the C8180 is similar to the rest of the printers in the Photosmart series, but this particular model has a few notable hardware additions that you won't find in most all-in-ones. Unlike most printers, the C8180 has a swiveled touchscreen that lets you control all the software functions including photo editing, wireless setup and management, and scanning jobs.
The touchscreen eliminates button clutter and frees up the rest of the front panel for simple buttons that control one-touch red-eye removal as well as a few others for start, stop and cancel. The front of the C8180 also has a memory card bay with slots for Compact Flash, xD, SD/MMC and Memory Stick cards.
FeaturesAlthough HP flaunts the C8180 as a full-featured AIO for the home and office, it lacks a fax machine and an auto-document feeder that you can find on other AIOs for less money. You'll also notice a unique hardware feature on the front of the C8180: a LightScribe drive that lets you archive your data directly from a USB key or an external memory card to a CD/DVD.
We're not disputing its utility, but we wish HP could've found a way to include the drive alongside an ADF and fax instead of omitting them entirely. In either case, we must compliment HP on the build quality and design of the C8180. The rounded corners and silver/white overlay contribute to its overall appeal; this printer will look great alongside any desk setup.
You have three options for connecting your computer to the printer: wired via the included USB cable, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. We can confidently state that the Photosmart C8180 is the easiest Wi-Fi printer we've used to date. Other printers make you pour through pages and pages of instructions and ultimately force you to set up the connection via an ad-hoc network, but the C8180 distills the process down to a simple pairing between the printer and your computer.
In fact, there are no onscreen instructions; you set everything up through the digital LCD on the faceplate itself. From open box to first print, the entire Wi-Fi setup took less than five minutes.
Another unique feature to the C8180 is its dual paper input tray. This is bound to be one of those "Why didn't we think of that?" headaches for HP's competitors, and it really is genius. The C8180 has two separate paper trays: one for larger A4 paper and another for smaller A6 media. This small hardware addition saves time and desk space by allowing the user to manually select which paper tray will spool from the device, but most of the time the C8180 will choose automatically depending on the job

source: rewies.cnet.co

Compaq Presario SR5710f Desktop

Simplicity, security, and innovation team up in our Compaq Presario SR5710F Desktop to bring you easy e-mail, Web surfing, and making calls over the Internet. With a clean, functional industrial design, this streamlined PC will easily blend with your home's décor.
Solid performance, fun features
Experience genuine Windows Vista Home Premium†† with Service Pack 1
Get reliable power from the 2.3GHz AMD Athlon Athlon X2 4450e+ Dual-Core Processor
Multitask with the 3GB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM (expandable to 4GB)
Enhance viewing with the Nvidia GeForce 6150 SE graphics (128MB dedicated)
Store data on the high-capacity 250GB, 7200 rpm SATA hard drive
Label discs with silkscreen-quality text, photos, and designs using HP's cool LightScribe feature
Entertainment and software
Watch movies and burn DVDs using the double-layer DVD±R/RW SuperMulti drive
Get high-def sound with the six-speaker configurable audio
Edit and create videos using the muvee autoProducer Basic and CyberLink DVD suite Deluxe software
Get productive with Microsoft Works 9, which includes word processing, spreadsheets, database, and calendar
Connect digital cameras MP3 players, and camcorders with the top- and back-access USB 2.0 and FireWire ports
Guard against viruses, spam, and spyware with Norton Internet Security 2008 (60-day live update trial)
Add peripherals like our ultraportable 160GB pocket media drive for sharing content, even while away from your PC, and a surge protector to keep your equipment safe from power disturbances
First-class warranties and support
Get peace of mind with the one-year limited hardware warranty and software support
Get answers to product questions 24 x 7, toll-free, or via e-mail in as little time

source: campaq.com

USB 2.0 microSD Card Reader

Meritline.com offers this USB 2.0 microSD Card Reader in a random color for $3.99. Apply coupon code "MLC4003172" to chop it to $1.49. With free shipping, that's the lowest total price we could find for such an item. Deal ends May 16.

source:dealnews.com

Refurbished Dell Studio 17 Core 2 Duo 2GHz 17" Laptop

further trimmed its price on the factory-refurbished Dell Studio 17 Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz 17" Widescreen Notebook in Ruby Red, model no. S17-162B, to $579.99 with free shipping. That's $20 under last month's mention and $150 under the lowest total price for a new Dell Studio 17 with similar specs. It features an Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 2GHz dual-core processor, 17" 1440x900 widescreen LCD, 4GB RAM, 320GB 5400 rpm Serial ATA hard drive, DVD burner, 802.11a/g/n wireless, webcam, fingerprint reader, and Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit.

source:dealnews.com

Cables Unlimited eSATA / USB Hard Drive Docking Station

offers the Cables Unlimited eSATA / USB 2.0 Serial ATA Hard Drive Docking Station model no. USB-2155, for $24.99 with free shipping. That's the lowest total price we've seen by $21. This docking station connects all 2.5" or 3.5" SATA hard drives, up to 1TB, to a PC. It also features a built-in USB 2.0 hub and memory card reader.

source:computerdeals.com

Mesh - Elite E6600 Express

If you're thinking about upgrading your complete system, or buying an off-the-shelf Vista machine, then Mesh's Elite E6600 Express isn't a bad place to start, offering a decent blend of features, hardware and price.
Housed in the traditional, black and silver, midi-tower Mesh case, the Elite E6600 Express is, as you might expect from the name, built around one of Intel's E6600 Core 2 Duo processors, which is clocked at 2.40GHz and has a FSB (Front Side Bus) speed of 1,066MHz with a handy 4MB cache. Supporting the CPU is 2GB of 533MHz DDR2 memory, so there's plenty of power for Windows Vista to play around with.
Talking of Vista, the Elite E6600 Express comes with Vista Home Premium pre-installed, with the fabled Windows Aero feature, so you'll be wanting something half-way decent to power the graphics. Mesh hasn't skimped on this, providing a mid-range card in the form of Nvidia's GeForce 7950GT;

All this hardware is plugged into an Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe motherboard which uses the previous generation Nvidia Nforce4 SLI x16 chipset rather than one of the latest chipsets. Having said that, the chipset does provide support for two full-speed x16 PCI-E graphics slots and, as only one of these slots is used by the 7950GT, you only have to add a second 7950GT to get the full benefits of SLI graphics.
The motherboard also has integrated Gigabit Ethernet and 8-channel audio, but Mesh has decided to ignore the built-in audio and add a decent sound card in the shape of a Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme, the output of which drives a good set of Creative Inspire T7900 7.1 speakers.
It's a pretty quiet system too, helped by the passive cooling Asus uses on the motherboard, which explains the pipework that stares you in the face when you open the case. Once open, the case internals show that a bit of care has been taken putting the Elite E6600 Express together, with sensibly routed and clipped cabling and plenty of room to get at the internals should you feel the need to.
For storage Mesh has supplied a 320GB Seagate hard drive, one with a 16MB cache, so transferring large files quickly shouldn't be a problem. The drive cage fitted in the Elite E6600 Express can hold another three drives if you want to add more; tempting, as the motherboard supports RAID arrays.
You also get an 18x Dual Layer DVD burner as well as a 16x DVD drive, so there should be no excuses for not backing up any important data you might have.
The rest of the hardware package is rounded out by a good Sony 19-inch X-Black TFT monitor and a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse combo. The software bundle is useful too: Microsoft Works 8.5 with a free 60-day trial of Microsoft Office, Cyberlink Video Editing Suite which includes seven titles, and BullGuard Internet Security 6.0. Mesh includes a three-year warranty, with the first year on-site and years two and three back-to-base.

source:itreviews.com

Chillblast - Fusion Tornado Quadro

Yet another high powered, high spec system from Chillblast and yes, it does carry a high price tag. But that's no more than you'd expect from a system built around Intel's quad core CPU, a case full of high-end components and Windows Vista Ultimate.
The system is built into a huge, silver, Coolermaster Stacker 830 full tower case. This case may be on the massive side (to give you an idea how massive, it can support up to nine 120mm cooling fans), but as with most Coolermaster cases it's very well built, as you might be able to gather from its weight of just over 14kg when empty.
At the heart of the Fusion Tornado Quadro sits one of Intel's QX6700 Core 2 Quad Extreme processors, the first quad core CPU to hit the market. As usual with Chillblast, the company hasn't left the QX6700 to run at its standard 2.66GHz but instead has tweaked it to run at 3.0GHz, yet with standard cooling.

The CPU sits in a BFG Nforce 680i SLI motherboard which, as you can guess, uses Nvidia's high-end Nforce 680i chipset which provides, amongst many things, two full-speed x16 PCI-E graphics slots. Sitting in two of the four DIMM slots are two 1GB sticks of GSkill PC2-6400 DDR2 memory which trundles along at 800MHz. As you may expect, the Tornado Quadro lacks nothing in performance as demonstrated by a score of just under 10,000 when tested with PCMark05.
The performance is aided by both the storage system and by the choice of graphics card. To be truthful, only part of the storage system assists performance, as the Fusion Tornado Quadro comes with two separate hard drives; one for the operating system and one for storage. The all important system drive is a 74GB Western Digital Raptor drive which makes up for its small capacity with a 10,000rpm spin speed and a 16MB cache, although for an extra £65 you can upgrade it to the 150GB version.
The data storage drive is a 500GB, 7,200rpm, Western Digital disk with a 16MB cache. If you're still not impressed, the case is so large that you can put together a huge RAID array, as besides the two free remaining 3.5-inch drives there are eight 5.25-inch bays left empty, while the ninth bay is filled by the 18x SATA dual layer DVD burner.
As mentioned previously, the motherboard is SLI capable but Chillblast only supplies one graphics card so it's up to you if you want to up your gaming performance later by adding a second card to take advantage of SLI technology.
But the single card supplied is no slouch: an ASUS GeForce 8800GTX, currently the fastest GPU around, so even straight out of the box you can play any of today's games on the Fusion Tornado Quadro with blisteringly fast frame rates. We recorded an average frame rate in F.E.A.R. of 210fps when tested at a resolution of 1,024 by 768.
To aid you in your gaming experience, Chillblast has put together an impressive audio and display package for the Fusion Tornado Quadro. The audio system is driven by a high-end Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme audio card whose output powers a 7.1 speaker system in the form of Creative Labs' Inspire T7900 speaker system.
Meanwhile the monitor is a 20-inch Samsung SyncMaster 206BW widescreen TFT, which has a native resolution of 1,680 pixels by 1,050 and - if you are impressed by such things - a 2ms response time (grey to grey).
Rounding out the hardware package is a Logitech EasyCall SpeakerPhone keyboard and mouse, while the software bundle comprises Ulead VideoStudio 9 SE DVD, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and Avast AntiVirus. Chillblast provides a two-year Collect and Return warranty backed by lifetime phone support.

source:itreviews.com

HP - Compaq dc7800 Ultra-slim

Here's a neat trick. In addition to being “ultra-slim”, the latest member of the HP Compaq dc7800 family can be made to almost disappear. OK, maybe not, but it can be made to take up hardly any room and be positioned out of sight, simply by buying the custom monitor/stand designed to go with it.
The HP monitor isn't compulsory: any monitor can be used if you prefer. However, opt for the HP L1906i (£149 + VAT) and, in addition to a nice 19-inch flat panel display, you get a solid metal stand to which the monitor and main PC processing unit can be attached.
Of course a screwdriver is needed to attach the PC, positioning it behind the display and clear of the desk, but it's an easy enough job which took us about five minutes. You even get a pull-out tray to take the separate AC adapter, further minimising the footprint. The 1,280 x 1,024 resolution monitor then clips in place with a nicely counterbalanced mechanism to slide it up and down as well as tilt the screen for comfortable viewing, with the overall result a very stylish and usable desktop system

The processing unit itself doesn't quite live up to the “ultra-thin” billing, but it's pretty close, with several configurations available to suit different applications and budgets. Ours was fairly high-end, with a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 6750 processor and sockets for up to 4GB of memory.
Unfortunately, only 1GB is supplied as standard and, given the Windows Vista operating system that comes with this model, we would have liked a lot more. But that's easily accommodated, using notebook-style SODIMM modules with a similarly notebook-style, 2.5-inch, 160GB hard disk and DVD/CD writer on this model.
We were also a little disappointed by the integrated Intel graphics controller. It's fine for general office work, but best avoided if you intend to run any 3D modelling or other graphics-intensive applications. All the more so given that there are no expansion slots, so installing another graphics card isn't an option. However, connectivity shouldn't be an issue, with a Gigabit Ethernet port and an impressive eight USB 2.0 connectors as standard.
As well as the stylish design and small footprint, we found the dc7800 Ultra-slim to be a lot quieter than most desktops, thanks to the use of low energy components more commonly associated with mobile computing systems. These require minimal cooling and a lot less power than a standard PC's, the dc7800 consuming around 80 watts in use and 10 in hibernation mode.
The external AC adapter also helps keep the noise down, although we would have liked a louder speaker and were far from impressed by the somewhat flimsy mouse. The keyboard was better, but a set of good quality wireless peripherals would have been a nice finishing touch on an otherwise good looking and well designed device, clearly aimed at the business rather than home user market.
To this end it's worth noting that the Ultra-slim also supports Intel's VPro technology, enabling it to be managed remotely whether powered up or not, with the software agents required pre-installed along with other HP security and management tools.

source:itreviews.com

NEC - PowerMate ML470

It may not be the first name that springs to mind when shopping for a desktop PC, but the NEC PowerMate range has a lot to offer. Particularly the new ML470, a professional looking business desktop which can be had with a choice of either dual or quad core processor, three different chassis types and Intel vPro management as standard.
Open up any of the ML470 models and inside you'll find an Intel BTX motherboard, designed to minimise power and cooling requirements yet able to support a variety of processors including the latest Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad chips. However, some care is needed here as the more exotic of these can really bump up the price, the review system shipping with a 3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, likely to be a popular compromise for buyers looking to run demanding applications without busting the budget.
Our standard desktop system also came with 2GB of DDR2 RAM plus two spare slots to add more, the ceiling being 8GB. The micro-tower chassis can also take this much, but opt for the tiny Small Form Factor (SFF) model and 2GB is all you can have.

Note, too, that the integrated video controller - an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 - uses up to 256MB of that memory and looks a little out of place on what's supposed to be a high performance desktop. Indeed, for customers looking to run graphics intensive applications or support multiple monitors, NEC recommends an add- in video card, offering Nvidia adapters as an option although, again, only on the larger two models.
Unless otherwise specified a single SATA hard disk provides the storage on the ML470, the review system shipping with the largest 250GB drive. The on-board controller can also handle additional drives and provide hardware RAID protection (levels 0 & 1) if needed, the only caveat being the need to specify the micro-tower in order to fit in the extra disks needed to take advantage of this feature.
An integrated Gigabit Ethernet interface comes as standard on all versions, together with up to four expansion slots depending on the chassis, plus an impressive eight USB 2.0 ports. You also get support for Intel's vPro remote monitoring and management technology including the ability to remotely power up the PC to, for example, run an inventory or distribute updates. Unfortunately, software to take advantage of this feature isn't included.
Aimed more at the business buyer than the home user, the PowerMate ML470 comes with a three year on-site warranty and a guarantee that the platform won't change for at least 15 months. Windows XP or Vista can be pre-installed, although you have to pay extra for this, and there's a wide choice of flat screen panels in matching livery, again adding to the final price. Finding a reseller could take a while, too, with far fewer NEC stockists than those offering competitive products.

source:itreviews.com

Wired2Fire - Hellspawn Xtreme

Intel's latest Core i7 range of CPUs offers plenty of performance straight out of the box, never mind about overclocking. However, the one thing they do excel at is being tweaked to run faster than standard without resorting to fancy water-cooling or even more exotic cooling methods.
You may not have heard of Wired2Fire before, but the Dorking, Surrey based system builders have been making some well built and quick PCs since 2004. The i7-powered Hellspawn Xtreme carries on that tradition and, although it comes with an eye-watering price tag (over three grand just for the system box), you do get one of the fastest desktop PCs available anywhere at the time of writing.
As with most Wired2Fire systems, the Hellspawn Xtreme is totally customisable through the Wired2Fire website so you can either save money or go totally mad depending on your budget.
Our review Hellspawn Xtreme came with the fastest current i7 processor available, the i7 965, but overclocked from the standard 3.2GHz up to 3.7GHz. It uses the standard Intel air cooler which does a very good job of keeping the CPU cool, but for peace of mind you may want to opt for the Thermaltake Golden Orb cooler (£21.53) that is offered as an alternative

source:itreviews.com

Advent - AIO-100

After creating a whole new notebook concept with the Asus turned its attention to creating an all-in-one desktop PC - or as the company called, it a net top - based on netbook technology. Hey presto, the Eee Top appeared, but while most us weren't that convinced, Advent took the idea and, some may say, improved upon it, producing the Advent AIO-100 which is a compact, neatly styled all-in-one.
Unlike most of the all-in-ones you come across, with everything except the kitchen sink crammed in behind the screen, Advent has designed the AIO-100 so that the hardware is separated from the screen in a small netbook-sized base unit, with the screen supported on a rather flimsy strut that's built into this base unit.
It is a neat, compact design, ideal where desktop space is at a premium, and if all you need a PC for is basic jobs like email, web browsing and office work, these are just what the AIO100 was designed to do.

source:itreviews.com

YOYOTech - Water Dragon 940

Here's a rare beast: an overclocked gaming system that doesn't use an Intel processor but instead uses a watercooled AMD one. But don't let that put you off, as YOYOTech's Water Dragon 940 is a capable, extremely well put together system unit.
It also makes a nice change that the name of a system actually represents what's inside, in this case Water as it's watercooled, Dragon because it‘s based on AMD's Dragon platform and 940 because it's powered by an AMD Phenom II X4 940.
The Phenom II X4 940 is one of AMD's latest quad core processors with 512KB of L2 cache per core (2MB total) and 6MB of L3 cache shared between the four cores. As standard it has a clock speed of 3GHz but in YOYOTech's system this has been overclocked to 3.6GHz.
Keeping the processor cool is a tidy water cooling installation courtesy of a Cool IT Domino ALC compact water cooling pump and fan combination. If the only water cooling you have seen involves huge radiators and big bore pipes which put you off, then this setup may change your mind about the whole liquid cooling idea.

source:itreviews

Toshiba - Portégé R600-101

When it comes to ultraportable notebooks, everyone wants to lay claim to producing the thinnest and lightest. Toshiba's R600 updates an earlier thin and light model,
And it is certainly light. Models in the R600 range start at (a very precise) 0.774kg. A solid state hard drive helps meet this amazingly light specification, with most of the models having a physical hard drive instead and clocking in at (an equally precise) 1.114Kg.
Which has consequences: the casing isn't as robust as it could be. There is a fair amount of flex in the lid section, and the wrist rest area too we found to be a bit lacking in solidity.
The 12.1-inch screen delivers 1280 x 800 pixels. The viewing angles aren't great, and the screen is neither as sharp nor as bright as we'd like. A button on the keyboard area turns the screen backlight off. This lets you use ambient light to work in and is designed to help conserve battery power, but we found it difficult to read the screen like this. It would probably only really be workable on bright, sunny days.
The keyboard is good but it too has its low points, most notably that there is a fair amount of flex, which won't appeal to everyone. But the Enter key is nice and large and the keyboard is spill-resistant.
The touchpad incorporates vertical and horizontal scrolling, and there is a fingerprint sensor nestled between the left and right mouse buttons. A VGA webcam sits above the screen.

source:itrevies.com

OKI C3600n

A color laser printer can be the perfect solution for small workgroups and home offices that print a high volume of color documents. The OKI C3600n ($399) color laser printer is network ready and prints at an impressive speed compared with its competition, but it's larger than most printers and lacks fancy extras such as a full-color LCD screen or a wireless print server. If you weigh performance benchmarks scores and output quality over features, size, and cost, this color laser printer is sufficient for most business uses.
Design and featuresWe're not very impressed with the OKI C3600n's design, but we've never been too wowed by laser printers in general. It seems that at the business level, manufacturers spend more time on efficiency rather than aesthetic innovation, and this printer certainly adheres to that model. The matte white C3600n measures 11.4 inches tall by 14.7 inches wide by 18.8 inches deep and weighs approximately 46 pounds, according to OKI. We wouldn't call it a behemoth, but it's larger than the Samsung CLP-315W that is only 9.6 inches tall by 15.3 inches wide by 12.3 inches deep. The OKI also weighs more than 20 pounds more than the Samsung, so people with limited desk space will probably be happier with a more compact machine.
You'll find all the ports you need to connect the printer to your computer (including the power plug) on the back of the chassis, including a USB and an Ethernet port for networking across multiple systems. One useful feature absent on the OKI C3600n is a front-mount USB port for connecting PictBridge-compatible cameras or direct printing from a USB flash storage drive--you can find such a port on the aforementioned Brother HL-4040CN.
Since it's only a single function laser printer, there aren't many extra features to discuss, but we commend OKI for including a 400MHz processor and a hefty 128MB of memory that lets it handle bigger print jobs than the competition. You can even upgrade to a maximum 640MB of memory. Comparatively, the Dell 1320c, released two years ago, shipped with a 333MHz processor and just 64MB of nonexpandable memory.
The C3600n's CMYK toner cartridges are individually separated and sit directly underneath the top cover, lined up in a horizontal row. The printer ships with "standard" capacity cartridges--according to OKI, the black cartridge lasts for 1,500 pages and each of the three-color cartridges will last for 1,000 prints. Using the prices on OKI's Web site, the cost to replace them is $51 and $60, respectively, but OKI also offers high capacity toner that can print 2,500 black pages for $73 and 2,000 color pages for $105. Using the high capacity toner for best value, you can expect to spend about 2.9 cents for a black-only page and 5.3 cents per color page, a fair price by today's printing costs.. Finally, the recommended monthly duty cycle for this printer is 35,000 pages, which is more than adequate for small businesses and workgroups.
PerformanceThe OKI C3600n fared well in a direct output speed comparison with three other color laser printers. It placed second best in all of our tests just behind the Brother HL-4040CN, a similarly priced single-function laser. As a matter of fact, it printed black text at almost the exact same speed, scoring 15.61 pages per minute compared with the Brother's 15.66. It couldn't keep up with the Samsung CLP-310W in the color presentation test, but it's safe to say that you won't be waiting too long for any document using this printer.

SOURCE: reviews.cnet.com

Asus P6T Socket 1366 Intel X58 + ICH10R Chipset CrossfireX / 3-Way SLI Dual-Channel Triple-Channel DDR3 2000/1800/1600(O.C,)/1333/1066Mhz 3x PCI-Expre

Product Specifications
CPU
Intel ® Socket 1366 Core™ i7 Processor Extreme Edition/Core™ i7 Processor/
Supports Intel® Dynamic Speed Technology
Chipset
Intel® X58 / ICH10R
System Bus
Up to 6400 MT/s
Memory
6 x DIMM, Max. 12 GB, DDR3 2000(O.C.)*/1866(O.C.)*/1800(O.C.)*/1600(O.C.)/1333/1066 Memory
Triple channel memory architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
*Hyper DIMM support is subject to the physical characteristics of individual CPUs.
*Refer to www.asus.com or this user manual for the Memory QVL(Qualified Vendors Lidts).
Expansion Slots
3 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (at x16/x16/x4 mode)
1 x PCIe x1
2 x PCI
Multi-GPU Support
Supports NVIDIA® 3-Way SLI™ Technology*
Supports ATI® Quad-GPU CrossFireX? Technology
Storage
Southbridge
6 xSATA 3 Gb/s ports
Intel Matrix Storage Technology Support RAID 0,1,5,10
JMicron? JMB363 PATA and SATA controller
1 xUltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices
1 xExternal SATA 3Gb/s port (SATA On-the-Go)
JMicron® JMB322 (Drive Xpert technology)
- 2 x SATA 3Gb/s
- Supports EZ Backup and Super Speed functions
LAN
Realtek® 8111C PCIe Gigabit LAN controller featuring AI NET2
Audio
Realtek® ALC1200 8 -Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
Coaxial / Optical S/PDIF out ports at back I/O
ASUS Noise Filter
Support Jack-Sensing, Enumeration, Multi-streaming and Jack-Retasking
IEEE 1394
VIA® VT6315N controller supports 2 x 1394a ports (one at mid-board; one at back panel)
USB
12 USB 2.0 ports (6 ports at mid-board, 6 ports at back panel)
ASUS Unique Features
ASUS Exclusive Features:
- ASUS TurboV
- ASUS 8+2 Phase Power Design
- Express Gate
ASUS Power Saving Solution
- ASUS EPU-6 Engine
- ASUS AI Nap
ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution:
- ASUS Fanless Design: Heat-pipe solution
- ASUS Fanless Design: Stack Cool 2
- ASUS Fan Xpert
ASUS Crystal Sound:
- ASUS Noise Filter
ASUS EZ DIY:
- ASUS Q-Shield
- ASUS Q-Connector
- ASUS O.C. Profile
- ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
- ASUS EZ Flash 2
Overclocking Features
ASUS TurboV utility
Precision Tweaker2:
- vCore: Adjustable CPU voltage at 0.00625V increment
- vCPU PLL: 36-step reference voltage control
- vDRAM Bus: 49-step DRAM voltage control
- vChipset(N.B.): 31-step chipset voltage control
- vNB-PCIe: 65-step chipset-PCIe voltage control
SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection)
- Internal Base Clock tuning from 100MHz up to 500MHz at 1MHz increment
- PCI Express frequency tuning from 100MHz up to180MHz at 1MHz increment
Overclocking Protection:
- ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Special Features
Multi-language BIOS
ASUS MyLogo 2
Back Panel I/O Ports
1 x External SATA
2 x S/PDIF Out ( 1xCoaxial & 1xOptical )
1 x IEEE 1394a
1 x LAN(RJ45) port
6 x USB 2.0/1.1
8 -Channel Audio I/O
1 x PS/2 Keyboard (Purple)
1 x PS/2 mouse port (Green)
Internal I/O Connectors
3 x USB connectors support additional 6 USB ports
1 x Floppy disk drive connector
1 x IDE connector
6 x SATA connectors
1 x IEEE 1394a connector
1 x CPU Fan connector
2 x Chassis Fan connector
1 x Power Fan connector
2 x Drive Xpert SATA connectors (orange and white)
1 x S/PDIF Out connector
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector
24-pin ATX Power connector
CD audio in
Front panel audio connector
Chassis Intrusion connector
System Panel (Q-Connector)
1 x Power on switch
1 x Reset switch
BIOS
16 Mb Flash ROM
AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI 2.0a, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
Manageability
WfM 2.0,DMI 2.0,WOL by PME,WOR by PME,PXE
Accessories
User's manual
1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable
4 x SATA cable
2 in 1 Q-connector
ASUS Q-Shield
1 x ASUS 3-Way SLI bridge connector
1 x ASUS SLI bridge connector
Support Disc
Drivers
ASUS PC Probe II
ASUS AI Suite
Anti-virus software (OEM version)
ASUS Update
Image-Editing Suite
Form Factor
ATX Form Factor
12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )

source:canadacomputers.com

Mercenary MK-450 Gaming Series - AMD Phenom X3 8450 Triple-Core / AMD 780G / 2GB DDR2 800MHz / 500GB SATA HDD / NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT / 22X DVD-writer

Promotional Cash Price:
$599.99




The stock listed above does not take into account variances in stock levels that may occur and any items on hold.
Online Availability: Instore Purchase Only
Due to limited stock or special conditions, this item is available for instore purchase only.
This item available for in-store purchase only.
This system is built upon order. To place your order, please visit any of our retail locations. It may take up to 5 business days to build your system. System price includes assembly and 1 year parts & labour warranty with first 30 days direct exchange on defective components. Express assembly and service options available at additional cost.


Product Specifications
Model
Mercenary MK-450
Processor
AMD Phenom X3 8450 Triple-Core 2.1GHz
Fan
Stock
Motherboard
ASUS M3A78-EM AMD 780G
Memory
2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz
Storage
500GB SATA
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT 512MB
Audio
Onboard 8-channel HD
Optical
22X DVD-writer SATA
Chassis
Cooler Master Elite 340 Mini Tower
Power Supply
350W
Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
Other
Operating System
Warranty
1-year parts & labour

souce:canadacomputers.com

Mercenary MC-500 - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core / Intel P45 / 2GB DDR2 800MHz / 500GB SATA HDD / ATI Radeon HD 4830 / 22X DVD-writer SATA / Antec

Everyday Low Price:
$949.00

Promotional Cash Price:
$949.00




The stock listed above does not take into account variances in stock levels that may occur and any items on hold.
Online Availability: Out of Stock
This product is currently out of stock. Order it today and we will ship it as soon as possible. Usually ships within 1-5 business days.
Order Online @ Promotional Price now
Quantity:
This system is built upon order. To place your order, please visit any of our retail locations. It may take up to 5 business days to build your system. System price includes assembly and 1 year parts & labour warranty with first 30 days direct exchange on defective components. Express assembly and service options available at additional cost.


Product Specifications
Model
Mercenary MC-500
Processor
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core 2.4GHz
Fan
Stock
Motherboard
ASUS P5Q Intel P45
Memory
OCZ Fatal1ty 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 1066MHz dual-channel kit
Storage
500GB SATA
Graphics
ATI Radeon HD 4830 512MB
Audio
Onboard 8-channel HD
Optical
22X DVD-writer SATA
Chassis
Antec Sonata III Quiet Super Mid Tower
Power Supply
500W
Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
Other
Operating System
Warranty
1-year parts & labour

source:canadacomputers

Fujitsu Lifebook T1010

Starting at $1399, Fujitsu's LifeBook T1010 delivers on some of the promises of an all-purpose laptop. With solid general-use performance--and Tablet PC functionality--it's built to move with you. However, the less-than-stellar display, tinny audio, and a handful of annoyances will turn off some potential buyers. (Fujitsu offers other convertible tablets, including the and the LifeBook U810, both released earlier this year.)
Would You Buy This?

A good overall package, the Lifebook T1010 sports a 2.26-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of memory, and a 120GB hard drive--great for anyone who wants a general-purpose notebook. The T1010 runs a brisk race, earning a score of 86 in our WorldBench tests, which puts it squarely in the middle of the performance pack. It certainly won't challenge the one of the fastest laptops we've tested--but on the other hand, it sprints past
That said, the unit's graphics performance in games was poor: The T1010 managed only 12.7 frames per second on our Doom 3 testing, though a somewhat better 36.7 fps in Far Cry. The LifeBook T1010 should handle most everyday tasks well, but it is far from a gaming notebook.
Battery life is good too, lasting a healthy 3 hours, 46 minutes on a single charge, according to the PC World Test Center. It falls right in line with expectations--maybe a little better than the average performance for an all-purpose machine. Fortunately, that battery doesn't weigh you down. The T1010 starts at 5.3 pounds--while it isn't super-light, the model is light enough to be a good mobile solution.
The notebook's 13.3-inch touch-screen display accepts input from both your fingers and the trackpad. The screen's hinge feels solid and swivels in both directions for conversion to tablet mode. The stylus works well, but I am not a fan of the touch input. For example, if you're like me and you rest your hand on the surface while you write, the T1010 will pick up the input from your hand, something I found to be particularly frustrating when using the tablet feature.
Maybe it's due to the touch-screen treatment, but the panel itself is rather mediocre: Colors look dull, and text appears fuzzy on the 1280-by-800-pixel screen. And I have to say this again: Nobody will be buying this laptop as a multimedia showstopper. If you want to see a crisp, colorful image of what's happening on-screen, keep looking. The speakers are lacking overall as well; I found the audio to be tinny, with some distortion at higher pitches when I had the volume turned up. However, you'll find the same problem in most all-purpose notebooks.
The T1010 features sturdy construction, though it's a little bland on the design side. The keyboard is quite possibly this laptop's strongest point, with a solid feel and great tactile response. The trackpad, while not amazingly large, is big enough to use comfortably, and its buttons are plenty big and satisfyingly clicky.
Not happy with the mousepad? The notebook features three USB ports--two in the rear and one on the left-hand side.
Taken as a whole, the Fujitsu LifeBook T1010 is not a machine with much in the way of sex appeal, nor is it a good gaming or multimedia notebook. However, the T1010 makes for a nice-performing general-purpose notebook. Sometimes that's all you need.

source:www.pcworld.com

Alienware AREA-51

On paper, the Area 51 has the heart of a champion. It sports a speedy Intel Q9550 quad-core processor running at its stock-clock frequency of 2.83 GHz. Four gigabytes of DDR3-1066 memory further beef up its specs, while 800GB of storage comes courtesy of two high-performance (10,000-rpm) Western Digital 300GB Velociraptor drives--striped in RAID array--alongside a single 500GB, 7200-rpm Seagate Barracuda drive.

Personal favoriate for me its excellent posted by Taimoor

source:www.pcworld.com

iBuyPower Video Pro

The low initial cost of this system makes the Video Pro's above-average performance look like a supercomputer. For a mere $1799 (as of December 3, 2008; $1988 if you bundle a 20.1-inch Sceptre display), you get an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 CPU coupled with 8GB of DDR2 (800 MHz) memory (fully addressed by the 64-bit version of Vista Home Premium). Two 500GB, 7200-rpm Hitachi Deskstar hard drives provide a terabyte of total storage.

The best thing to go on with

source:www.pcworld.com

Acer Aspire Predator

A good machine, the Predator delivers solid performance for its price; a little reconfiguring could wonders, however.
Acer's Aspire Predator is a peculiar power desktop. We see this particular configuration more as a sturdy base with room to grow than a power PC in its own right; a little more detail work on its guts could push it toward the top of the category.


Our test configuration (G7700-UQ9550A) ships with an Intel Core 2 Quad 9550 processor (stock-clocked at 2.83 GHz); 8GB of DDR2 (800 MHz) memory; and 1.92 terabytes of total storage, courtesy of three 640GB, 7200-rpm Western Digital Caviar hard drives. The system also features a single nVidia 9800GTX graphics board to power games and CUDA-enabled applications, along with separate DVD-writing and DVD-ROM optical drives. This Predator's price of $2199 (as of December 3, 2008) doesn't include Acer's matching $400 24-inch wide-screen G24 display, but you do get two awesome peripherals bundled in for the price: Logitech's G11 keyboard and G5 gaming mouse.
We love the Predator's exterior design, accented with stealth-fighter-like lines in metallic-orange. But the proprietary nature of its insides--complete with more plastic coverings than we ever needed to see--could make upgrading a frustrating situation. Given the lack of available 5.25-inch bay coverings on the case's front, you can't add more 5.25-inch devices to that section of the chassis. However, the four hot-swappable hard drive bays at the lower front of the machine (behind a lit-up, hinged door), redeems that shortcoming a bit.
Still inside the case, why is Acer liquid-cooling its quad-core processor without overclocking it whatsoever? If "acoustics" is the only answer, we frown: You can have a quiet and fast rig with liquid cooling, so there's no need to ignore the potential benefits of an overclocked processor. More frustrating still is that the system's Worldbench 6 score of 122 isn't exactly chart-topping. A little factory-side CPU tweaking could have gone a long way.
The aging nVidia 9800 GTX video card delivers acceptable (again, not stellar) performance; on the other hand, the Aspire Predator has two free PCI Express x16 slots for a dramatic degree of upgradability

Polywell Poly X4800-EXTREME

Expensive desktop provides knock-your-socks-off performance and lots of rear-port connectivity.
Polywell certainly named this power desktop compute correctly. Its 3.2-GHz Core 2 X9770 CPU is Intel s current state-of-the-art Extreme (overclockable) chip, which means that this is an extremely fast desktop. At $4799 (as of August 8, 2008), it's also extremely expensive. Then again, no one ever said state-of-the-art would be cheap; the X9770 CPU alone costs nearly$1500 ; the equally fresh-from-the-mint MSI nVidia GeForce GTX280 graphics card, abou$500and the 4GB of DDR3 1600 memory goes for nearly as much. But the steep cash outlay that's called for buys you a knock-your-socks-off WorldBench 6 score of 141, as well as a gaming experience of 207 to 266 frames per second. Extremely fast indeed.
Would You Buy This?
Part of the X4800-Extreme's excellent performance is due to a hard-drive setup we're beginning to see often on the power chart--pairs of 10,000-rpm, 300GB Western Digital WD3000GLFS VelociRaptor hard drives in a RAID 0 configuration. Not only are these 2.5-inch models mounted on 3.5-inch adapter sleds (as Western Digital calls them), they're energy-efficient. The sleds function as giant heat sinks that work so well that the drives are nearly cool to the touch even when in heavy use.
The X4800-Extreme is built around an extremely capable Gigabyte X48T-DQ6 motherboard with the most comprehensive array of rear-panel connections that I've ever seen in a PC. Besides a whopping eight USB 2.0 ports, the machine has both normal and 4-pin (mini) FireWire ports, optical and coaxial S/PDIF audio-out, six analog audio (7.1), and two gigabit ethernet ports. It also has motherboard headers for a pair of 2-port eSATA rear-slot breakout panels.
The X4800-Extreme's midtower case is sturdy and roomy, with flip and slide levers that let you swap in expansion cards and drive bays easily. Even so, the case setup is not as impressive as recently reviewed desktops from Xi Computers and Cerise Computers; both of those models mount power supplies at the bottom of the case for better stability, while the Poly X4800-Extreme mounts its 1000-watt Sparkle Power Magna 1000 power supply at the top.
The bundled Logitech 650 wireless mouse and keyboard were both comfortable to use. The Polywell-labeled Acer 2416 24-inch wide-screen LCD'spicture was also easy on the eyes, but I found the silverish bezel a little distracting. Personally, I wish they'd matched the case with a black bezel.
That said, the X4800-Extreme is about power, not style. For sheer performance, it has no equal on the chart.

SOURCE:www.pcworld.com

Gateway FX6800-01E

Gateway has put all the bells and whistles on its FX6800-01e desktop--it's either a killer valu PCor an inexpensive power PC, take your pick. No matter what you call it, this system offers compelling performance for its price. Though it isn't the all-out best value PC for its $1250 price tag, the FX6800-01e did deliver near tip-top results, even in the current-generation games we threw at it.

The system includes a 2.66-GHz Core i7 920 processor (part of Intel's top CPU line) plus 3GB of DDR3-1333 memory. Joining that powerful combination is a 750GB Seagate hard drive--not quite as expansive as, say, the 1.5 terabytes of space on Polywell's MiniBox 780G-94, but enough to accommodate all the data you need to store.
The single ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card did an exceptional job of producing playable frame rates for all the games we tested, including an average of 51 frames per second on Unreal Tournament 3 (2560 by 2100 resolution, high quality) and 46 fps on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (2560 by 2100 resolution, high quality). Only the Maingear Dash, which uses two of the same cards in a CrossFire setup, surpassed this Gateway. The Dash also beat out the FX6800-01e on our WorldBench 6 benchmark, though by a scant two points, 117 to 115. (The fact that the Dash's Phenom II X4 940 processor is clocked 0.34 GHz higher than the FX6800-01e's CPU and that the Dash comes with an additional gigabyte of memory likely factored into the results, as well.)
This Gateway's peripheral offerings are generic, but at least they're boring with style. The two-button mouse is glossy black with a nice orange trim, and the keyboard uses half-size buttons and orange accents to spice up the otherwise drab functionality. We give the company credit for at least making the input devices fit the FX6800-01e's aesthetic theme. As for the PC's connections, eight USB ports grace the front and rear of the case. The two eSATA ports, single FireWire 400 port, on-board 5.1 surround sound, and front-panel media card reader are strong additions to the system, too, but we would have appreciated seeing at least one next-generation connector, such as DisplayPort or HDMI.
We love the FX6800-01e's case. It's a beautiful mix of glossy paneling and orange highlights that suggests a gaming PCmore than it does a value desktop. The front CD bays are stealthily tucked behind clearly labeled paneling, and the included media card reader pops up and down out of the top of the chassis. Cooler still, the top panel on the case's front doubles as a touch-button controller for the system itself: You can skip music tracks and adjust the volume by poking the front of your PC, almost eliminating the need for a media-themed keyboard--almost.
The inside of the FX6800-01e is slightly marred by the wiring job, but it isn't all that bad. The area near the 5.25-inch bays is just a little cluttered. The system has space for an additional 5.25-inch device, two hot-swappable hard drives, and a single mounted hard drive. The motherboard boasts room for an extra PCI Express x16 device (CrossFire, anyone?), as well as PCI Express x4 and x1 cards. That's a great amount of expansion for a value PC, though not quite as much as the options you'd find in the average power system.
Gateway bundles a giant, full-color setup guide with the rig that details how to connect the monitor and cabling. The comprehensive reference guide is specific to the FX6800-01e, and it should answer even the most technical of questions a newbie might have. We appreciate Gateway's hand-holding for FX6800-01e owners, though the inclusion of an OEM operating system CD or driver CDs would have been nice as well.
The Gateway FX6800-01e is a solid desktop PC, and we'd expect nothing less for its price. But our Top 10 Power Desktops chart has some stronger machines that cost only slightly more; which one you choose just depends on what your budget's absolute cut-off point is.

source:www.pcworld.com

CyberPower Power Infinity Pro

CyberPower's Power Infinity Pro is one of the first systems to ship with Intel's newest quad-core CPU, a 3-GHz QX9650 Core 2 Extreme chip--the company's first to be built on a 45nm manufacturing process--that's aimed squarely at enthusiasts and other early adopters. (Mainstream users will have to wait until next year for more-affordable 45nm dual-core offerings.) We were able to test the system before the QX9650 hits the streets, and found its test results to be a mixed bag. Though the Power Infinity Pro strutted its stuff in our gaming and graphics tests, in most general applications it showed only modest performance gains over systems using older quad-core chips

Our review unit shipped with 64-bit Windows Vista Ultimate. In our WorldBench 6 Beta 2 test suite, it earned a strong mark of 120. That score fell a bit short, however, of the 124 mark of a CyberPower Infinity Pro that we tested a couple of months ago which uses the previous-generation, 3-GHz QX6850 Core 2 Extreme CPU.
In the Photoshop, 3DS Max rendering, and multitasking components of our WorldBench series, the Power Infinity Pro earned the best scores among all power PCs we've recently tested, though its marks were only a few seconds faster than the results of the next-closest models. In some WorldBench application tests (3DS Max DirectX, Windows Media Encoder, and VideoWave), the Power Infinity Pro's scores merely tied those of other systems (the Xi Mtower PCIe and the HP Blackbird 002) that used older CPUs. Most perplexing was the Power Infinity Pro's sluggish performance in the Nero portion of our WorldBench suite, for which its score of 592 seconds was the slowest of the lot. While none of our WorldBench scores reflect in imaging, 3D rendering, and video encoding, it should be noted that none of the applications in our test suite are optimized to take advantage of the QX9650's new SSE4 instructions, which can greatly speed up tasks such as video encoding (in applications that use SSE4).
On the plus side, the newer Power Infinity Pro posted the fastest scores ever in all of our gaming graphics tests, beating older quad-core models that use the same EVGA 8800 GTX graphics board. The Power Infinity Pro achieved an impressive average of 193 frames per second (fps) while running Doom 3 and 223 fps running Far Cry, both at 1280 by 1024 resolution with antialiasing turned on, well ahead (by about 13 percent) of the second-fastest system, the nVidia GeForce 8800 Ultra-equipped which posted results of 170 fps and 198 fps, respectively. That's not , but it's still pretty darn impressive. Though the Power Infinity Pro came with a single graphics board that performed well in our graphics tests, the system's is capable of hosting two graphics cards in a CrossFire setup. (Taking advantage of the feature would preclude using an SLI-compatible card such as the EVGA 8800 GTX card in our test system.)
Without a doubt, one of the Power Infinity Pro's best features is its stylish Cooler Master Cosmos case, which sports sturdy bars on top that are helpful when you're lifting the case--especially because it weighs a ton. The top panel includes an easily accessible connection dock with USB, FireWire, and audio ports, plus an eSATA connector, with additional USB, FireWire, and other ports on the back. Five external drive bays are easily accessed behind the hinged front panel. Our test system included a Lite-On Blu-ray DVD drive, a multiformat DVD burner, and a multiformat card reader drive-bay module, leaving two open bays for expansion.
Opening the side panel (insulated to keep the system's noise levels down) is easy, and the neat and tidy interior has plenty of room for expansion. Adding upgrades couldn't be much easier, thanks to a tool-less design that features push-button locks and pull-out aluminum racks for easy hard-drive installation. But some upgrades could be costly: For example, adding a matching pair of Corsair XMS 1GB DDR3 RAM sticks to raise the system's memory to 4GB would cost about $400. A four 120mm case fans, and a cooling attachment for the graphics board provide sufficient thermal management.
The $4299 (as of 11/2/07) Power Infinity Pro model we tested represents only one of several different configurations that CyberPower offers. Our test system also came with a generous 1.8 terabytes of hard-disk space, consisting of two 150GB, 10,000-rpm Western Digital Raptor drives (configured in a RAID 0 array) for performance and two 750GB, 7200-rpm Hitachi drives for backup and data storage that can hold hundreds of hours of video.
The included dual Sylvania 22-inch wide-screen monitors (SK2201W-B) have thin bezels that make positioning them closely side by side easier, but you get no height-adjustment control for maximum flexibility in setting them up. The picture quality was very good, with crisp readable text (even at 8 points) and nicely saturated color when we viewed still or moving images. The cordless Logitech MX3200 keyboard presents a host of useful extra keys and a wrist pad that's comfortable to type on. The MX600 laser mouse also benefits from an ergonomic design that fits nicely in the hand.
The CyberPower Power Infinity Pro is clearly aimed at enthusiasts and other early adopters who don't mind paying a premium for the latest technology. But considering that the market has few SSE-4 optimized apps, mainstream users may want to wait a bit longer before taking the plunge.
source: http://www.pcworld.com/