Posted 11/04/09 at 07:45:16 PM by Gordon Mah Ung

It is, perhaps, fitting that Velocity Micro’s new rig is called a Raptor. That’s because anyone who has ever seen the Air Force’s F-22 Raptor in person and on afterburner knows just how overkill the F-22 is.

The same can be said of Velocity Micro’s Raptor Signature Edition. With people overjoyed just to have a $99 Athlon II X4 620, Velocity Micro decided to go shock-and-awe on the spec lists—and the wallet.

First up is Intel’s stellar Core i7-975 Extreme Edition. With a stock speed of 3.33GHz, Velocity Micro uses a custom CoolIt Domino ALC to get the processor to a very stable 4.2GHz. To “balance” this $1,000 CPU, Velocity Micro throws in probably $1,500 in GPUs in the form of three EVGA GeForce GTX 285s. Still not impressed? How about four SLC-based Intel X25-E Extreme 64GB SSD drives in RAID 0?
 
Mind you, these are not the pedestrian X25-M consumer drives; they’re enterprise-class drives that offer more than twice the write performance of the X-25M version and peg the read speeds at the SATA 3Gb/s limit. If you’re afraid of a four-drive RAID 0, you might feel better that the X25-E’s are designed for server use and should have 10 times the life of a consumer drive.

Continue reading this review after the jump.

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Posted 11/02/09 at 11:01:00 AM by Paul Lilly

Let's be realistic for a moment. Few would classify Maingear's new Shift series as supercomputers for the homestead, but we'll give Maingear this much: these new PCs pack a punch.

"The Shift bucks the trend of plastic, bloated, commodity PCs. It's a statement of our commitment to performance, reliability, and support," said Wallace Santos, CEO and Founder of Maingear. "Featuring vertical airflow, all the cooling necessary for today's high performance, and backed by the best technical support team in the business, Maingear is committed to maintaining our lead in the market."

The configurable PCs come built around your choice of Intel's P55 or X58 platform and come with a Core i7 800 series or 900 series CPU. DDR3 memory options include up to 8GB on the P55 platform, or up to 24GB in the X58 setup. You can choose from a plethora of videocards culminating in a pair of dual-GPU GTX 295s, and for storage duties, Maingear will slap up to 6 mechanical or 12 SSD drives into your rig. Other options include Blu-ray, liquid cooling, Razer peripherals, Killer NIC Xeno Pro card, and of course Windows 7.

Maingear promises each Shift system will ship with no bloatware, and they've all been tuned to take advantage of GPGPU computing.

The new PCs are available now starting at $2,200 (P55) and $2,600 (X58). In Q4, Maingear says it will add a Xeon-based setup with Nvidia's Quadro graphics to the lineup.

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Posted 10/21/09 at 09:28:49 AM by Paul Lilly

Jumping on the fast emerging 3D bandwagon, Acer today announced its new Aspire 5738DG notebook, the first from Acer to sport 3D viewing technology.

"This holiday season, we are seeing 3D content become more prevalent in popular films and games," said Ray Sawall, senior product manager for Acer America. "The new Acer Aspire 5738DG notebook enables consumers to enjoy exciting new 3D entertainment on a mobile PC that can also replicate a 3D experience from standard 2D content."

The new notebook achieves its 3D effect using TriDel 3D technology, which in addition to a 3D screen and special software, also means you'll need to don a pair of 3D polarizer glasses. When you do, you'll be able to filter 2D content into 3D, while also being able to toggle between the two types of displays with the click of the mouse, Acer says.

While the 3D capability steals the show, other specs include an Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 processor (2.2GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 800MHz frontside bus), 4GB of DDR2-1066 memory, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 with 512MB of dedicated video memory, a 320GB hard drive, multi-card reader, 8X DVD burner, four USB 2.0 ports, 6-cell battery, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

Acer says the Aspire AS5738DG-6165 will be available later this week starting at $780.

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Posted 10/20/09 at 10:15:40 AM by Paul Lilly

Pretty soon, all the attention will be focused on Dell's upcoming Adamo XPS, the super-slim laptop whose specs have yet to be revealed. But in the meantime, Dell's Adamo Desire deserves a bit of attention too, thanks to an internal overhaul.

Just a few months ago, the Adamo Desire came configured with a 1.4GHz processor and 128GB SSD, a combo that would set you back $2,300. Now three months later, Dell has replaced the Desire's guts with Intel Core 2 Duo SL9600 processor clocked at 2.1GHz, a 256GB SSD, and 4GB of DDR3 RAM. Rounding out the package is Windows Home Premium in 64-bit form.

Already a pricey notebook, you would think the hardware upgrades would put the Desire out of reach. But if it is, that's only because it was out of reach to begin with. Despite the beefier hardware, the MSRP hasn't budged an inch! Well played, Dell. Now how about sharing a bit more about the Adamo XPS?

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Posted 10/20/09 at 08:21:12 AM by Paul Lilly

If it looks like a netbook and comes priced like a netbook, then surely it is a netbook, right? Not necessarily. Acer's new AS1410 may look the part of an underpowered PC, but on the inside, Acer's traded the low rent hardware found in just about every netbook for a slightly more powerful setup.

Instead of Intel's Atom platform, the 11.6-inch AS1410 comes built around a Celeron SU2300 processor (1.2GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 800MHz frontside bus). Not exactly a screamer, but a definite step up from the N270 and N280 chips that litter the netbook landscape.

It also comes with 2GB of DDR2-667 RAM, or twice as much as you'll find in a netbook. Other specs include a 160GB hard drive upgradeable to 250GB, Intel's GMA 4500MHD graphics, a multi-card reader, three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI port, 6-cell battery, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

Acer says the AS1410 will be available in time for the holidays with prices starting at $400.

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Posted 10/19/09 at 01:56:55 PM by Paul Lilly

Lenovo has let it be known that every single ThinkPad laptop and ThinkCentre desktop PC will come with Skype already installed.

"If you're fortunate enough to get your hands on a Lenovo ThinkPad or ThinkCentre for your home or office, be sure to keep an eye out for Skype," said Peter Parkes, Skype's chief blogger.

That's great news for private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, who bought a 65 percent share of the company last month and would like nothing more than to see Skype's market share continue to grow. While terms of the Lenovo deal have not been disclosed, there's a reason why software companies pay tidy sums to have their apps come pre-installed on OEM systems.

As for consumers, you can view it as another piece of bloatware to be nuked after first firing up your new PC, or a handy pre-install of an app you may already use anyway.

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Posted 10/19/09 at 08:48:50 AM by Paul Lilly

Perhaps in the future, all notebooks will measure a mere 9.99 mm thick, rendering today's laptops laughably obese by comparison. And if we're to take Dell's upcoming Adamo XPS as a representative of things to come, you can kiss the "open" button goodbye.

According to a report in BusinessWeek, Dell's super-slim notebook will feature a "heat-sensing strip on the lip that, when swiped with a finger, glows white and automatically opens the aluminum lid."

The article wasn't focused on the Adamo, however, and unfortunately no other details were given, so we still don't know what kind of hardware Dell plans to cram inside the skinny frame.

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Posted 10/16/09 at 06:10:52 PM by Paul Lilly

The busy guys and gals over at Acer have put the final touches on the company's revamped AspireRevo R3510-U9012 "one-liter nettop." Kicking things up a notch over its predecessor, the refreshed PC now sports an Intel dual-core Atom 330 instead of a single core Atom 230.

It also comes built around Nvidia's Ion platform, 2GB of DDR2 memory, a 160GB hard drive, six USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI port, eSATA, WiFi, and Windows 7 Home Premium, fast becoming an obligatory OS in any new OEM setup. Not a bad spec sheet for a $330 nettop.

"The AspireRevo is a practical and highly adaptable nettop for the home -- powerful enough to take on games but so thin, it can be neatly hidden from view," said Susan Hu, Desktop Product Manager for Acer America. "It's also energy-efficient and quiet."

One of the coolest features of the AspireRevo is its ability to connect to the back of an LCD or TV panel with a VESA attachment. In essence, you could turn your swank LCD HDTV into a respectable all-in-one. And did we mention it's only $330?

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