MiscellaneousJune 21, 2007 5:54 am

StarTech rolls out slim 8X DVD burner for USB

http://www.filehigh.com/serve/28675/441485.jpgStarTech today released the SLIMDVDRW8U2, a compact burner for computer users with either ultraportable notebooks that lack optical drives or those who use the same drive for multiple systems. The Panasonic-made drive is originally built for notebooks and manages to stay travel-friendly, measuring only half an inch despite the new enclosure. Burning a single-layer DVD-R takes place at 8X speed, similar to faster notebook drives. Dual-layer discs burn at 4X while simpler DVD-RW and DVD-RAM discs burn at 6X and 5X respectively.

Like many portable hard drives, the StarTech drive is powered entirely from its USB 2.0 connection instead of through a separate AC adapter; it also uses a tray-loading mechanism that will read the mini CDs and DVDs used by some camcorders and other devices.

The slim DVD drive supports virtually any Mac or Windows PC and should already be shipping to online stores today with a $155 price tag.  [via]

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Computer Reviews, News 5:29 am

Sony aims for pro editing market with VAIO RM1N

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Though Sony’s VAIO line is more closely linked with consumer laptops, the company has just announced the VAIO RM1N, the latest in its series of desktop workstations. The system is aimed squarely at digital video editing, since it comes preloaded with Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0, and its default storage comes in the form of a 1TB RAID 0 array. It likewise comes with a jog controller, and is one of the few machines that can burn double-layer Blu-Ray discs as well as play them.

The RM1N uses a 2.4GHz Core 2 Quad chipset with 2GB of RAM, and the graphics card is a 256MB GeForce 8600 GTS. A copy of Windows Vista Business is included, but users must buy their own display, and there are no capture cards pre-installed. The system does however have room for three PCI Express devices, as well as an extra four SATA hard drives. Ten USB and three i-LINK ports are front-mounted on the computer for easier peripheral connection. As yet, Sony has not mentioned when, where and at what price the computer will ship.  [via]

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Chips & UpgradesJune 16, 2007 2:51 pm

AMD Ready to Roll Out the FX-80 and FX-90 Series

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At least on paper it is. Because in practice, Barcelona’s appearance was almost inexistent. Few bechmarks ran on AMDs native quad-core series and I have to say that I wasn’t very impressed. Barcelona’s 128-bit FPUs coupled with a tuned memory controller helped it perform on par with INTEL’s quad cores (in terms of clock/clock benchies). Unfortunately INTEL has about 1GHz over Barcelona and while it’s not faster it still manages to perform pretty well. And since AMD’s biggest problem at the moment is its availability, INTEL keeps
on gaining market share.

The Phenom and Phenom FX series will probably come out in November (1S FX series) and December (2S FX series). That is if we were to speak "officially". The first Phenom FX series will be 1S FX-80 clocked at 2.2-2.4GHz. Soon a 2S FX-90 clocked at the same speeds will follow and at about the same time AMD will also roll out its fastest FX CPU, the FX-91 clocked at 2.4-2.6GHz.
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Computer Reviews, NewsJune 14, 2007 12:47 am

ASUS to Launch Waterproof UMPC and Robust PC

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Asustek Computer Inc. (ASUS) of Taiwan will make full-scale entry into the market for robust notebook personal computers as early as the fall of 2007. At COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2007 held in Taipei, Taiwan, ASUS exhibited the Hermes Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) with 7-inch LCD display and a robust notebook computer under the brandname N13i that employs the new Centrino Duo platform (codename: Santa Rosa) launched from Intel Corp. in May 2007.

Hermes ensures its shock-resistance and is drip and dust proof through the use of rubber, etc., covering the chassis front surface. The product meets the MIL-STD-810F shock-resistance standard set by the U.S. Department of Defense, so it won’t break even if it was dropped from 120 cm above. Classified as IP54 by the water and dust proof standard, it is designed to protect the chassis from splashes from all directions. It employs C7-M, a low power consumption CPU available from VIA Technologies, Inc. of Taiwan. The CPU has a fanless, enclosed structure which is crucial for dustproof without scarifying its heat dissipation design. The product is equipped with a 7-inch display and the backlight is selectable from a fluorescent tube or LED. Although the product on display was equipped with an HDD, a demonstrator says, "We’re planning to offer the SSD model for users requiring a higher impact-resistance." A card reader, GPS module and other devices attachable to the upper part of chassis are optionally available.

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Chips & Upgrades, News 12:37 am

Nvidia ships GeForce 8700M GT for high-end notebooks

http://www.filehigh.com/serve/28675/436806.jpgNvidia on Wednesday announced its highest-performance DirectX 10 GPU for notebooks. The new GeForce 8700M GT graphics processing unit (GPU) for notebook PCs extends its GeForce 8M Series product line to include high-performance notebooks. As with the GeForce 8M Series notebook GPU lineup, the GeForce 8700M GT delivers the fastest DirectX 10 gaming performance as well as compatibility with Windows Vista and high-quality HD DVD and Blu-ray video playback. The GPU delivers support for Microsoft DirectX 10 games and a more efficient, unified architecture that delivers up to a 70 percent performance improvement compared to previous generation GPUs.

The company also touted its NVIDIA PureVideo HD video processing engine for high-quality playback of HD DVD, Blu-ray and HD movie downloads and its NVIDIA PowerMizer technology that balances the user’s need for longer battery life and performance. As with its other mobile 8M chips, the new 8700M GT can accelerate the entire H.264 video process, making it easy to play Blu-Ray, HD DVD, and other 1080p-native movies on a notebook without siphoning away CPU and memory resources.
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