ASUS CEO Jerry Shen confirmed there will be slight price increases for its notebook and netbook products beginning in March, but not close to the 20 percent bump previously rumored, the CEO said in a Tuesday conference call attended by CrunchGear. Shen says the price increases for its netbook products will mostly be a function of the growth in the average size for its Eee PC netbooks from 9 inches to 10.
While more mainstream 10-inch Eee PCs are already shipping, a faster version of the 10-inch Eee PC known as the 1000HE is due to be released sometime in February, with pricing starting at $399. The netbook will include a new 1.66GHz Intel Atom CPU, 160GB hard drive, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a built-in webcam. Shen adds market competition for its larger, more functional notebook business also keeps ASUS’ pricing in check.
Source : Electronista
Asus Chief Debunks Claims About Eee PC Price Hike
Scythe Kama Bay Review
Today going under scrutiny at XSReviews is one of the less sought-after products in the enthusiast hardware industry, something expected to come with your case – a card reader. However, this is not simply a bog standard card reader but in fact a multi-function controller and media card reader, or so the manufacturer describes it as. Let’s see whether this product is all it’s cracked up to be. Time to introduce the product in question; I give you the Scythe Kama Panel.
The Kama panel arrives in a very small box reflecting its size as it fits the 3.5” floppy disk bays. The product image is displayed centrally with blue curves around the edge. With only the name, company logo and compatibility being notable features, the carton is quite simple. On the reverse, is a product image labeled with numbers 1 to 11 which all refer to a different feature on the front of the panel which is then explained next to the relevant number.
Zalman GS1000 Full-Tower Case Review
You want a big, breezy, E-ATX case. You’ve gone over your floor plans, moved the furniture around, checked the availability of outlets, and made sure the space next to your desk can withstand the weight. Good. You’re ready. There are only a few options that don’t look like recycled server equipment, and Zalman’s got their entry. Of course, these enclosures get expensive. This particular case’s appeal is that it’s not that expensive. It’s available for less than $200, but it’s got the slick looks and volume of cases that cost another fifty or more.
So we know that something’s left out of this case; the Cosmos has all kinds of NVIDIA ESA hardware, that adds to the sticker, but the Zalman 1000 has a SATA hot-swap cage, those probably add about the same build costs. What’s been overlooked? Construction, or fit-and-finish?
ASUS Xonar Essence STX Soundcard Review
Hey audio crazies, we have us a brand spankin’ new audio card to tests out today in our labs, and it’s all about the essence sound, let’s get started with some background first.
The Xonar soundcard lineup has been methodically targeting all segments of the PC audio world with impressive results to the end users. The release of the original D2 marked the entrance of ASUS into the add-in soundcard hardware segments and the Xonar family has been building a strong and dedicated fan base.The recent addition of the HDAV 1.3 and Essence STX have targeted two new markets for the ever moving Xonar sound machine landing impressive contributions to the high end HTPC audio and high end stereo/headphone markets.This review will encompass the new Xonar Essence STX and we will examine what this card has to offer new users who are interested in this product. This new card has been highlighted as the pinnacle of the Xonar soundcards at least as far as 2.0 and headphone audio are concerned.
- Introduction
- Box And Bundle
- Specifications
- Driver Software
- Driver Software
- Driver Software
- Electronics Overview
- Electronics Overview
- Electronics Overview
- Filtering & Shielding
- Subjective Listening Tests - Games
- Subjective Listening Tests - Music & Movies
- Subjective Listening Tests - Music Continued
- Synthetic Testing - Rightmark
- Synthetic Testing - Rmaa
- Modifications - Modifying The Soundcard
- Modifications - Modifying The Soundcard (2)
- Final Words & Conclusion
Intel 32nm Westmere Desktop Processor Roadmap Exposed Review
Intel has already been in the news once today with the announcement plans to spend $7 billion over the next two years on 32nm manufacturing facilities in the U.S. With the slowing U.S. economy and the stimulus plan being voted on in the Senate today, it is nice to see corporate America doing their part by trying to stop the vicious cycle of plant closures, layoffs, and government bailouts. If that isn’t big enough news, Intel had a news briefing just moments ago in downtown in San Francisco that involved a processor road map update presented by VP Steve Smith and Senior Fellow Mark Bohr. The highlight of the meeting was the discussion about new milestones for the 32nm manufacturing and progress toward future products.
The briefing included the first-ever demonstration of a working 32nm-based microprocessor in both mobile and desktop systems. A 32nm Westmere mobile and desktop processor was used in both of the demo systems and production of Westmere will begin in the fourth quarter of 2009. Intel will release processors based on Westmere into mobile, desktop and server segments over time as the 32nm process ramps up once all the 32nm fabs swing into full production.
Kensington - SlimBlade Trackball Review
There have always been people who prefer trackballs to mice for controlling the screen pointer. Those with little room to swing a mouse, for example and, unaccountably, those controlling nuclear power stations, seem to have had a penchant for trackballs since they were first invented.
The trackball has advanced a lot since the early days, when close relations of snooker balls lumbered around in cradles with roller wheels used to detect movement. A lot of the advancements have come from companies like Kensington, and its new SlimBlade Trackball still has at least one innovation to add to the mix.
Click Here To Read The Full Article @ ITReviews
LG KC780 Review
Just a couple of weeks ago I took a look at LG’s attempt to bring the touchscreen to the masses in the shape of the Cookie KP500. Before that we had the all signing, all dancing Renior KC910.
Both of those phones have touchscreens, and the Renoir has an 8-megapixel camera. Now along comes the KC780. This phone again offers an 8-megapixel camera, but it drops the touchscreen. Oh, and the fairly meaningless naming convention. This phone is just identified by a letters/numbers combination and its aim is to bring the 8-megapixel camera to a mid-range price.LG seems to have tried to get as large a screen as possible into the slider format of the KC780 without overwhelming your hands. I’m not certain the format works, to be honest. Even with the slide down this is a big phone measuring 105mm tall, 51mm wide, 13.7mm thick and weighing 90g. Open the slide and it is more than 140mm tall. Yet the screen isn’t that vast at 2.4in and 240 x 320 pixels.
AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition CPU HDZ940XCGIBOX Review
Nearly every enthusiast who has overclocked a computer system has wished that processors weren’t restricting them from the hobby they love. Even I can still recall the good old days (less than four years ago) before Intel and AMD locked the clock multiplier on their processors and overclocking was a combination of factors and no limited to the stability of a motherboard. Intel believes that their Core i7-965 Extreme Edition (EE) processor series is worth the $1000 price tag, but AMD begs to differ. Literally.
The Dragon platform is AMDs last hope for success in a time when financial ruin is destroying every business on the planet. Perhaps the timing is right then, and consumers won’t hastily spend unnecessary cash on an expensive unlocked processor when AMD offers their Black Edition Phenom II X4 940 CPU for just $220. Benchmark Reviews compares the field, and tests the AMD Phenom II X4 940BE HDZ940XCGIBOX against the Intel Core i7-920 BX80601920. One costs almost $100 more than the other, and you would be surprised by what you aren’t getting for the extra money.
- AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition CPU HDZ940XCGIBOX
- Features and Specifications
- Closer Look: Phenom II X4 940BE
- Testing and Results
- Devil May Cry 4 Gaming
- EVEREST Benchmark Tests
- Far Cry 2 Gaming
- Passmark PerformanceTest
- PCMark05 Benchmark Tests
- SPECperfview CATIA?Tests
- AMD Dragon Final Thoughts
- Phenom II X4 940BE Conclusion
Antec 900 V2 Review
The Antec 900 was one of the most popular gaming cases released in the past few years. It was good looking, had great cooling and some interesting features, and was even followed up by a little brother version, the Antec 300. Now though, Antec felt that it was time for a refresh, meet the Antec 900 v2. It’s got whopping cooling options, along with a nice side window, dust filters have been added and it still looks damn sexy. Let’s see how it holds up in our testing.
The box follows a similar style to the original 900 with a black background and a dominating high angle, central shot of the 900 v2 in the middle. The back has several images of the 900 v2 in different positions, showcasing different features with specifications in English, French and German.
Inno3D GeForce GTX P897 PCB Pictured
NVIDIA has come up with a new inexpensive reference PCB design for the GeForce GTX 260 (55nm) codenamed P897. The new PCB does away with the numerous redundant and rudimentary connections, excessive PCB layers and some components. The new PCB design is expected to reduce manufacturing costs by as much as $15.
Inno3D will be one of the first companies to come up with a model based on the new PCB. The company is planning an accelerator using the P897 PCB and a cooler of its own. Expreview sourced a few pictures of the card. While the cooler itself isn’t pictured, we can make a safe guess that it is going to be something along the lines of its previous Freezer Direct Heatpipe-Touch (DHT) series models, in which the heatpipes of the cooler make direct contact with the GPU to convey heat. Inno3D is expected to start mass-production of this accelerator soon, following which it will assign an SKU and price it. While the new PCB cuts manufacturing costs, it remains to be seen as to what extant NVIDIA’s partners pass on the benefit to the consumer.
Source : TechPowerUp
