| This Mouse Takes to the Air |
An All-in-One Goes All Out |
PNY Ships Graphics Card With 4GB of Frame Memory
The biggest damn datasets in the toughest visualization, simulation, and broadcast applications are just a light snack for the 240 processing cores, 102GB/sec of memory bandwidth, and 4GB frame buffer of PNY Technologies' new flagship Nvidia Quadro FX professional graphics card.
Friday , December 19, 2008 02:10:00 PM
Micron and Sun Lengthen Flash Memory Life
The finite life expectancy of existing flash memory is a worry for IT managers hoping to bring solid-state drives in house, but Micron Technology and Sun Microsystems have announced a tenfold increase in SLC NAND durability. Soon, solid-state drives and camera memory cards may outlive their users.
Friday , December 19, 2008 12:35:00 PM
Nvidia's Ion Platform Promises HD and Gaming-Class Netbooks
Want power to launch Windows 7, not good old Win 98, on your two-pound netbook? Nvidia is moving the GeForce 9400 -- the same graphics processor that's pepped up Apple's MacBook and MacBook Air -- to netbooks and nettops based on Intel's ubiquitous Atom CPU.
Thursday , December 18, 2008 11:15:00 AM
Sierra Wireless Unveils 3G ExpressCards
Mobile broadband is the hottest thing in portable computing nowadays, and Sierra Wireless is ready to fill laptops' ExpressCard/34 or ExpressCard/54 slots with 3G modems that support download speeds up to 7.2Mbps and install themselves without a software CD.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 04:10:00 PM
Possibly AMD's Last Athlons Have Phenom DNA
While we wait for the 45-nanometer-process Phenom II processors, AMD throws a bone to nostalgia buffs -- or rather, Socket AM2 upgraders -- with what's almost certainly the last new Athlon 64 X2, but whose Level 3 cache and cranked-up HyperTransport bus make it easy to mistake for a 65nm Phenom.
Tuesday , December 16, 2008 10:50:00 AM
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When is a PC like a Wii? When it's paired with Gyration's 3D-motion mouse, a pointing device that keeps working when you lift it off your desk and wave, shake, or swipe it in the air. Vangie Beal finds the $100 high-flyer a little clunky when earthbound, but as addictive as, well, a Wii for PowerPoint and other presentation and media-center power users. Monday , December 29, 2008 04:00:00 PM |
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A year ago, we were marveling at the speed and output quality of $250 and $300 inkjet all-in-ones. Today, we're marveling at one with a street price of $150: Epson's handsome black printer/copier/scanner/fax has features ranging from an automatic document feeder to Ethernet, WiFi, and auto-enhanced photo printing, and it's fast. Seriously. We mean it's fast. Tuesday , December 23, 2008 11:00:00 AM |
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Every vendor makes a living-room PC these days, but Dell tops them with a bookshelf PC -- smaller (if thicker) than most notebooks and available in a parade of colors, this diminutive Core 2 Duo desktop is as fashionable as they come. The only worry is whether consumers will buy without realizing its lack of expansion room and productivity- rather than gaming-oriented performance. Tuesday , December 16, 2008 11:45:00 AM |
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Microsoft says its new flagship mouse's glowing blue bottom is the key to better tracking and higher precision than any optical or laser mouse has offered to date. Vangie Beal throws her mouse pad away to test the company's claim that BlueTrack works on virtually any surface: Denim? Tile? Skin? Carpet? Kleenex? Lego? Monday , December 01, 2008 10:00:00 AM |
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Getting a nice notebook for under $1,000 hasn't been newsworthy for years, but getting a four-pound slimline -- with a built-in instead of plug-in optical drive and best-in-class security features -- for $999 is very nice indeed. Jamie Bsales checks out a 12.1-inch affordable ultraportable with ample productivity power and an available secret ingredient: Windows XP. Monday , November 24, 2008 01:10:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: AMD's Phenom-enal New Athlon You've got to draw the line somewhere, and AMD has drawn it between dual- and triple-core processors: While its newest dual-core has the same DNA as the chipmaker's Phenom X3 and X4, it carries the older Athlon name instead of the prestigious Phenom moniker. But while it's the new top of the Athlon line, it isn't the fastest. In other words, what gives? Friday , December 19, 2008 03:00:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: Breeding Like ... Netbooks Do you have your netbook yet? The compact, low-priced laptops have jolted the mobile PC market to the tune of 14 million sales in their first full year; brought Linux to a new audience; and struck sparks for online applications and storage. But should you opt for an 9-inch, 10-inch, or 12-inch screen? How small is too small when it comes to keyboards? And will the sleek but no-frills minis help or hurt the traditional notebook segment? Monday , December 08, 2008 11:35:00 AM |
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Platform Trends: Intel's Core i7: Quad-Core of Solace It's not true that every new Intel processor brings a different new motherboard socket to dash upgrade hopes: The Core i7 brings two. Even so, Vince Freeman says, the new CPU shows such a combination of brute force and flair it might be called the i007. Here's a look under the hood, with some thoughts about why the Core i7 needs more than one chipset and why AMD might be more competitive than you think. Friday , November 21, 2008 05:00:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: Taking the X58 Express to the Future Radical changes in Intel's Core i7 processor bring radical changes to the usually evolutionary, not revolutionary, desktop chipset sector. The X58 Express takes advantage of the i7's onboard memory controller to allow colossal bandwidth, with a new QuickPath Interface speeding communication between chipset and CPU. But when it comes to peripheral support, Intel's looking strictly forward, not back. Friday , November 07, 2008 05:00:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: Nvidia and AMD Take Graphics in Different Directions No niche is too small for the PC graphics giants to cram in a new product, but AMD's ATI Radeon HD 4000 series has lacked an entry in the $100 to $150 price range preferred by avid but unwealthy gamers -- until now. Meanwhile, Nvidia targets even more frugal desktop shoppers with faster-than-Intel integrated graphics ... although both vendors have already done that with under-$60 dedicated cards. Tuesday , October 28, 2008 11:10:00 AM |
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Save Us, Windows 7! Retail sales are falling like a skydiver without a parachute. The fearsome R-word -- recession -- has become the E-word, said by everyone every day. Is there any good news for the PC industry amid the doom and gloom? Yes, from some unlikely sources (let's hear it for hardcore gamers) and from users and IT managers suddenly looking favorably on that favorite bugaboo, Microsoft. Monday , November 17, 2008 06:15:00 PM |
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Mini Mobile PCs: Now Comes the Hard Part It's a myth that lightning never strikes the same place twice, but what are the odds against catching lightning in a bottle twice? The ultralight, ultra-affordable subnotebook PC category that the Asus Eee ignited last winter will soon see a second generation of what are now called netbooks -- but this time around, it might be Eee II: The Laptop Strikes Back. Tuesday , July 01, 2008 02:30:00 PM |
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The economy's in a slump and PCs are in danger of becoming interchangeable commodity products anyway. So how can hardware manufacturers perk up sales and prop up profit margins? Chrome trim and pretty colors, of course, as vendors ranging from Dell to Staples introduce limited-edition artistic cases and fashionable decorations. HardwareCentral editor Eric is bemused. Apple is unworried. Friday , May 23, 2008 12:00:00 PM |
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Asleep by 10:30? Not at the Labs, Weather, & Sports Desk, where New Year's Eve is like any other midnight -- time to start a fresh count of the day's Diet Pepsis, along with a last look over the, uh, vista of the dozen months past. Our seventh annual flashback bounces from nifty notebooks and cool Web tools to HDTV headaches, poorly launched processors, and a surprise pick for Product of the Year. Tuesday , December 18, 2007 10:30:00 AM |
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The Tick-Tock of Doom, or For Whom Intel Tolls Processor upgrades: just say no? HardwareCentral editor Eric won't go that far, but finds reasons not to tie your purchases to Intel's newly announced policy of scheduling new CPU designs and less radical manufacturing and power-saving improvements for alternate years. He also covets a 433MHz notebook and considers the apocalypse: putting a Mac on the Labs, Weather, & Sports Desk. Tuesday , September 25, 2007 10:10:00 AM |
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