Computers Hardware

General Dynamics on Tuesday became one of the first rugged PC makers to offer Intel Santa Rosa in a notebook by releasing the GoBook VR-2. The notebook packs a 2GHz Core 2 Duo with the faster system bus, improved graphics, and 802.11n, but also features a uniquely survivable design meant as much for use in the field as in an office. Key to this is a new display technique called DynaVue, the company says: instead of simply increasing the brightness of the 13.3-inch touchscreen, the process cuts out reflections within the LCD itself and boosts contrast ratio to render the image visible even in bright daylight. The VR-2 also meets military-spec resistance to dust, shock, and humidity, and has a spill-proof keyboard. Providing as much or as little access to the outside world is a similar specialty of the notebook. Besides the enhanced Wi-Fi standard, the VR-2 has support for either EVDO or EDGE/HSDPA cellular access, Bluetooth, and a pre-installed GPS receiver for tracking the system’s location without an extra device; in extreme situations, however, an owner can lock down all wireless links with a single password and prevent thieves from even starting Windows through a separate pre-boot password. Extras such as a fingerprint reader and a car mount also prevent the system from being easily compromised or stolen.

The combination of ruggedized technology raises the price to $3,500 for the standard notebook with 5!2MB of RAM (upgradable to 4GB). Though intended for outdoor workers, soldiers, and other pros, the system is available to the general public through the company’s reseller channels.  [via]

Sapphire already announces its own water cooled solution: the HD 2900XT TOXIC edition.

Known for its quality water cooling systems, Sapphire extends the TOXIC family with the addition of ATI’s latest top-of-the-line graphics cards. The Sapphire HD2900XT TOXIC edition includes every feature found on the reference boards: unified shader architecture with 320 shaders, 512-bit memory bus, which delivers over 475 GigaFLOPS performance and 106 GB/sec memory bandwidth, Microsoft DX 10 and Shader model 4.0 support, and of course, the Windows Vista Premium Experience certification.

The HD 2900XT TOXIC is also equipped for the ultimate high definition experience, featuring ATI’s Avivo HD Technology for enhanced video display as well as hardware accelerated decoding of Blu-ray and HD-DVD content. Furthermore, the new TOXIC editions integrate two dual link DVI outputs and the cards are CrossFire Multi-GPU ready. As with the other integrators, Sapphire provides HDMI adapters for users who want to fully benefit from the 5.1 Audio support. All HD 2900XT cards provide true audio and video output via the included HDMI adapter.
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Last week we found out some spicy details on the new 20.1" display notebook from HP, making it the largest portable device ever released. Today, it’s time for another record breaker. This time we look at Fujitsu’s latest tiny tablet PC which is to be released soon in Japan.
The Lifebook U notebook weighs as little as 580g, making it the ultimate portable device. This notebook dwarf integrates a 1,024x600 touch screen display that measures 5.6-inches. I’d say far too small compared to HP’s Pavilion HDX 20.1" display, but still good enough for typing and performing useful tasks. Being a tablet PC, the display can also be swiveled around 180 degrees to allow a smooth touchscreen interaction. Lifebook U’s incredible weight is also determined by its size of only 171×133×26.5-32mm, making it a rival for pocket devices. Hardware configurations for this model are based on the new Intel Ultra Mobile Platform 2007 design, powered by an Intel A110 processor clocked at 800MHz and the Intel 945GU chipset with integrated graphics.
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