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 .:Latest Topics |
:: PC Perspective . System
Dell Studio One Touchscreen Windows 7 PC ReviewSystem - Oct 20, 2009 | 05:00 AM Right before Windows 7 hits the streets this week, we take a look at a Dell Studio One touchscreen PC that implements the improved touch capabilities included with the new operating system. The Dell system is a 19-in wide screen multi-touch capable all-in-one computer that uses an Intel Pentium CPU (yes that name continues) and an NVIDIA ION chipset. Come see if this PC will make you yearn for a monitor with fingerprints on it. 
Smooth Creations Dragon System PreviewSystem - Jun 12, 2009 | 09:00 AM Even though Smooth Creations is a new to the boutique system builders game, they have started developing a name for creating incredibly artistic designs, as well impressively performing ones. Today we are taking a quick preview look at an all AMD-based system that uses a Phenom II processor and HD 4870 GPUs. 
CompuLab fit-PC2 Preview - Nettop PC with Intel MenlowSystem - May 26, 2009 | 09:00 PM A pleasant surprise on this Tuesday afternoon, a package arrived on my doorstep from Israel. Perplexed by its origin I ripped open the bag to find a brand-spanking-new fit-PC2 nettop computer in my hands. This little guy has been getting a lot of attention recently for its incredibly small size (fits inside the area of DVD almost) and interesting hardware configuration.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Techware Labs | Subject: System
The Popcorn Hour C200 bills its self as a Network Media Tan, theoretically able to manage anything you could accomplish by building your own HTPC, but without needing to set it up. Once you strip off the marketing speak, what you are left with is a NAS optimized for local networked media sources as well as YouTube, Blip.tv, Revision 3 and the like. The list of supported formats and sources on the second page of the Techware Labs review is impressive and you can catch a video of the interface in action in the full review. Overall they felt that this is a great device; hampered by beta firmware. "One of the best way to save money and still get a kick ass home theater set up has always been three words, “build it yourself”. Now the company Saybas is changing that and hopefully for the better with the Popcorn Hour C200. The Popcorn Hour C200 is a Network Media Tank that promises to pack a wallop when it comes to home theater set up’s. Thanks to Saybas you now have the option to purchase one of their sleek looking Popcorn Hour C200 units and still have enough in your budget to purchase a few of the latest blockbusters. Ladies and gentleman follow me as I review Saybas’s Network Media Tank, the Popcorn Hour C200." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Legit Reviews | Subject: System
Leadtek has an interesting new product, the PxVC1100 MPEG-2/H.264 Transcoding card based around the Toshiba SpursEngine BXA32110 chipset. It is designed specifically to provide Inter-transcoding between H.264 and MPEG-2 and up-convert SD/DVD video to HD like quality. Legit Reviews testing showed a 50% speed increase in DVD transcoding and a noticeable difference in video quality and file size. They do have a warning of an incompatibility with the new Intel P55 and X58 chipsets. You must use the PCIe slot that who's lanes are controlled by the ICH10. "Compared to even the latest CPU and Graphics hardware, the Spurs Engine held its own. Though testing different encoding/transcoding types and programs can be quite a headache, it’s easy to see that the Leadtek WinFast PxVC1100 is an MPEG-2/H.264 transcoding card can benefit those who do large amounts of this type of work. While there are only a couple of different formats to be used, they process very quickly and have outstanding quality. I have seen a lot of questions about taking SD quality video and converting to an HD format and most are answered with “don’t waste your time because it will be the same quality.” Well with the Spurs Engine, that answer can be thrown out. While taking SD quality video and reaching the quality of an original HD source would be impossible, the content was very clearly much higher quality than the source. Best of all was that this process was quick, encoding at about 20% faster than real time playback..." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: TechReviewSource | Subject: System
Apart from the obvious lack of Apple Genii, TechReviewSource has spotted a different reason to visit one of the two stores that opened in the USA. Microsoft sells Signature Series computers that come with a minimum of preinstalled bloatware. Bing is probably the most offensive thing on the computer, they don't even load it with trial MS Office software, according to the information on the link. Microsoft might not be the first brand to come to your mind when buying a new system, but maybe they should get at least some of your attention when shopping.
"One thing we hate about buying a new Windows-based computer is all the "bloatware" that comes with it. PC makers lower the cost of their computers by including trialware software from software makers, most likely security software and productivity software. Most users won't want any of this software because it expires after a short period of time or it is software they simply don't need. Microsoft is selling in its two retail and online stores that do not contain any of this bloatware and making the computer buying experience more streamlined and customizable for the user." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Techware Labs | Subject: System
If you have yet to play with recording and playing TV via a TV tuner card on a PC, perhaps the Haupauge HVR-1800 TV Tuner Card might change your mind. For ~$90 you will get a TV Tuner card that can handle ATSC HD (the over the air HDTV standard in North America), clear braodcasted QAM digital TV channels if you are lucky enough to live in an area where they are broadcast and a 125 channel cable ready TV tuner built-in
for analog signals. That will give you more flexibility than a cable box provided by your cable provider along with everything that the box provided originally. Drop by Techware Labs to see it.
"The notion of a personal Home Theater PC (HTPC) is becoming more prevalent lately. Many ideas can go into the planning of an HTPC. Will it be able to stream video across the network? Will it act as a central media hub? Will it be able to view online videos? The most important question being, will it be able to record and playback TV? This is where Hauppauge shines. Hauppauge has been producing quality TV tuner cards for quite some time now. In the Linux community, their cards are near synonymous with MythTV. So does their latest addition, the WinTV-HVR-1800, have the goods to make it into your next HTPC build? Read on, and we'll tell you." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Tech Report | Subject: System
If the PC Perspective Hardware Leaderboard doesn't quite meet your standards or if you are simply looking for a second opinion on recommendation, The Tech Report has just updated their system setups, specifically for Windows 7. You will notice several similarities, especially in the graphics subsystem, though their top of the line rig doesn't sport three HD 5870s. Check out the systems, peripherals and alternatives.
"Windows 7 is upon us, as is a whole line of DirectX 11 graphics processors from AMD. Come see how we've updated our system guide to account for these new products and other changes in the hardware landscape." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: techPowerUp! | Subject: System
A.C. Ryan might not be the first name you think about when you are looking for a DVR but perhaps it should be. They have made HDD cages for a while now and branched out from that with the PlayOn! DVR TV. USB 2.0 and HDMI as well as as wireless or wired network connectivity offer a range of ways to get media on or off of the HDD as well as capturing live broadcast TV. Read on at techPowerUp to see if A.C. Ryan has found a sweet spot between HTPCs and a NAS device.
"The A.C.Ryan PlayON! DVR TV combines the benefits of a media player with the ability to record and playback analog and DVB-T signals and act as a wired or wireless NAS. It is capable of streaming and playback of up to 720p video as well as audio and pictures. To top things off, the PlayON! DVR TV also acts as an Internet radio for your living room." Here are some more HTPC Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Think Computers | Subject: System
The colour scheme is a little off and it is unlikely to pick up a warhorse or any other type of mount in the near future, what the iBUYPOWER Gamer Paladin E870 i7 PC does do is hit 20,533 in 3dMark06. Think Computers liked a lot of things about this prebuilt system but perhaps one of the best features was the extra software that came with the PC; there was almost no bloatware whatsoever. Do keep in mind the price, while the basic rig is $1739, the one that Think Computers tested runs you $2675.
“When it comes to gamers they want the newest and most powerful gaming systems out there. They really only have 2 choices, build a gaming PC themselves or get a custom gaming PC built for them. There are really only a few of reliable, well known custom builders out there and today we will be taking a look at a system from once such builder, iBUYPOWER. They have sent us their brand new Gamer Paladin E870 gaming system that sports an Intel Core i7 870 processor, 2x Radeon 4890's, 8GB of memory and liquid cooling. Let's take a look..." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: InsideHW | Subject: System
The Verbatim MediaStation HD DVR
is an all in one digital video recorder, with many input and output ports, including antennae. It is not quite able to produce 1080p, but 1080i is certainly a step up from SD. The model that InsideHW tested had a 1TB drive, though it is possible to downgrade to a 500GB disk if you need. In the end they were a little disappointed as they had originally thought this to be a successor to the previously released MediaStation Pro; once they realized the HD would offered in addition to the Pro they felt a bit better.
"Predecessor of this device we reviewed in January and mentioned it few times since it was, at that time, one of the best of its kind. We are of course talking about Verbatim MediaStation Pro . At this year’s IFA we saw new MediaStation HD and had high hopes, as it looked like we got improved successor of already very good MediaStation Pro. Well, new MediaStation HD has arrived in our test lab, but this time we have mixed feelings about it…" Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Think Computers | Subject: System
It looks just like just a touchscreen LCD, but hidden behind that screen is a fairly powerful desktop system. The overall power and heat limitations that an all-in-one system imposes have been avoided thanks to the usage of a dual core 1.6GHz Atom 330 and the onboard Intel GMA 950 GPU. Think Computers were impressed by the power offered, HD movie playback was good at the worst but they were disappointed that Shuttle did not take advantage of the touchscreen, there was no custom software installed on the system at all.
"Intel's Atom platform has been a huge success since it has launched, without the Atom chip you probably wouldn't know what a netbook is! With its huge success many companies are creating all types of different products based on the Atom. With this comes the nettop, a small form factor, inexpensive, low-wattage desktop computer. Today we will be looking at one of the most powerful nettop's out there the Shuttle X50. It features the Atom 330 dual-core processor, 1GB of memory and a 15.6-inch touch screen display." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Tech Report | Subject: System
The Tech Report has revisited their line up of recommended system builds, thanks to the new season's processors. AMD still rules their Econobox, with the highly overclockable
Phenom II X3 720 BE and the HD4850. The Utility Player gets an update with a nice Lynnfield processor on a Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R while the Sweeter Spots uses a Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P and a faster Lynnfield CPU. The Double Stuff system is of course the most impressive build, 12GB of DDR3-1600 along with a few other twinned components will get you ahead of the pack and for only $2,600!
"In this edition of the system guide, we update our Utility Player and Sweeter Spot builds with Intel's new Lynnfield processors, juice up the Econobox with a triple- core processor, and more." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: VIA Technologies | Subject: System
Taipei, Taiwan, September 22, 2009 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the first ever Mini-ITX board to feature a dedicated on-board graphics processor and dual HDMI ports. The VIA VB8003 is ideally suited for a range of advanced digital media applications, supporting the latest advanced HD codecs and DX10.1 graphics. A wide range of connectivity options are available, including four display configurations using the VIA VB8003's two HDMI, DVI and VGA ports. The VIA VB8003 takes advantage of the 'VIA Trinity' platform, the codename for a unique combination of 64-bit VIA Nano processor, VIA VX800 media system processor and a dedicated S3 Graphics processor; producing a perfect blend of Hi-Def video playback, DX10.1 graphics and multiple display connectivity, all within a ruthlessly low, industry-leading thermal envelope. The VIA VB8003 Mini-ITX board can utilize the integrated graphics of the VIA VX800 MSP in tandem with the dedicated S3 Graphics processor to offer developers the widest possible variety of multi-display configurations, including dual-HDMI, LVDS, DVI and VGA technologies. Powering HD content playback across as many as four uniquely configured displays, with supported resolutions of up to and beyond 1080p, the VIA VB8003 is a HD powerhouse, ideal for a range of next-generation digital interactive devices and digital signage applications. "The VIA VB8003 is the first Mini-ITX board to harness the unique performance efficiency of theVIA VB8003 VIA Nano processor combined with a dedicated HD capable DX10.1 graphics processor," said Daniel Wu, Vice President of VIA Embedded, VIA Technologies, Inc. "We are confident that the HD adept VB8003 will be massive hit with developers of the latest digital multimedia devices, making it easier than ever to employ high resolution, compression intensive content across multiple displays." About the VIA VB8003
On-board I/O includes dual HDMI, a DVI port, VGA port and two RCA jacks, dual Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, serial and PS2 ports. Storage includes two S-ATA ports, a 40-pin IDE and a type 2 Compact Flash slot. The S3 Graphics 435 ULP Graphics Processor
Featuring the ChromotionHD engine, a fully programmable video architecture with true HD quality 1080p playback on the latest HD standards including Blu-ray Disk, H.264, VC-1, WMV-9, MPEG-2/4 and AVS, the S3 Graphics 435 ULP offers stunningly smooth HD playback at resolutions of up to 2560 x 1600 pixels. 
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Bjorn3D | Subject: System
ASUS bills their M4A78-HTPC/RC HTPC motherboard as a basis for which to build a Dream HTPC. It's a well laid out 780G based mATX board that comes with a remote plus a USB IR-receiver. Four DDR2 slots with dual channel capability, 5 SATA channels, a single IDE as well as the ability to provide your sound card with a separate power supply to reduce noise. Drop by Bjorn3D for a look at what features should not be left off of an HTPC motherboard. "In today's crowded market it is important to try to make your product stand out in some way. The ASUS M4A78-HTPC/RC on the surface is just another micro-ATX motherboard with the AMD 780G/SB700 chipset but as its name implies there is more to it than that. In fact the ASUS M4A78-HTPC/RC is marketed as the motherboard to use when “Building the Dream Home Theater PC”. With a special mode to keep the system quiet, improved sound as well as the software “Home Theater Gate” it sounds like ASUS might have created the perfect motherboard for us htpc-builders. Keep reading on as we pick this motherboard apart to see if ASUS can back up their claims or if it just falls flat." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Benchmark Reviews | Subject: System
MSI has broken away from the netbook market long enough to create an all in one desktop PC. The MSI Wind Top AE2010 AIO looks to be a 19" 1600x900 TFT touchscreen LCD at first glance, but hidden inside is a full PC. An AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core 3250e powers it, with 4GB DDRII @ 533MHz
on the board its self, no memory upgrades for this machine. Graphics are handled by the AMD RS780G and SB710, the HD3200 gets 128MB of Side Port DDR3 to help it out. Benchmark Reviews tried it against Atoms and Ions and even a Dell to see how its performance measured up, which you can see here.
"Desktop computers are making a resurgence, and have exploited the compact nature of newer technology to provide the best of both worlds. Netbooks are the popular item for travelers, but they don't get the job done for full time workers and students. Notebooks are nice, and meet halfway, but have their own limits too. Behold the nettop. It's a compact desktop computer with a notebook profile. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the MSI Wind Top AE2010-02SUS All-In-One touch screen desktop computer against an Intel Atom-equipped ASUS Eee PC netbook, Core 2 Duo notebook, and NVIDIA ION desktop system." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: VIA Technologies | Subject: System
Taipei, Taiwan, September 15, 2009 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA EPIA-P720 Pico-ITX board, which takes advantage of the latest VIA VX855 media system processor to deliver stunningly smooth playback of the latest HD video formats for next-generation digital interactive devices. "VIA continually strives to offer customers compelling product designs that open up new worlds of possibility," said Daniel Wu, Vice President, VIA Embedded Platform Division, VIA Technologies, Inc. "The VIA EPIA-P720 enables a new class of extremely compact embedded devices that can comfortably handle the most demanding video playback whilst remaining entirely fanless. No other compact platform currently offers these features in tandem." Today's digital interactive devices give users a more immersive and enhanced experience, employing high quality, high resolution video content. Using the latest video compression technologies, like the increasingly popular H.264 codec, HD media playback usually requires a substantial processing overhead, negating the possibility of a completely fanless compact system. With the VIA EPIA-P720, the VIA VX855 MSP takes the video decompression burden from the central processor, applying industry-leading hardware acceleration for the most compression-intensive codecs, including H.264, VC1, WMV9 and MPEG 2/4, at display resolutions up to 1080p. The VIA EPIA-P720 also boasts several display connectivity options including native HDMI, VGA and LVDS support. The VIA EPIA-P720 - Small yet Powerful
A highly integrated, all-in-one chipset, the VIA VX855 MSP is specially designed to provide flawless hardware acceleration for the latest HD video codecs including H.264, WMV, VC1 and MPEG 2/4 at high bitrates and display resolutions of up to 1080p. The VIA Chrome9™ HCM 3D integrated graphics core boasts full DirectX 9.0 support and a 128-bit 2D engine with hardware rotation capability. The VIA EPIA-P720 uses a specially designed I/O add-on-board, the VIA P720-A, which complements the native HDMI port to add a VGA port, a Gigabit LAN port and two USB 2.0 ports. The VIA Vinyl HD audio codec provides 6 channel, DTS capable audio with S/PDIF support. Storage is provided in the shape of an onboard 44-pin IDE connector and one S-ATA port. On board pin headers provide support for an additional 4 x USB 2.0 ports, an LPC connector, SMBus connector, PS/2 support, audio jacks, LVDS, 4 pairs of DIO and two UART ports.
For more details about the VIA EPIA-P720 please visit:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: InsideHW | Subject: System
The ASUS O!Play HDP-R1
is a tiny little Linux based HD Media Player, with both eSATA and USB as well as a network connection available for you to provide the media by. Outputs include HDMI, composite AV and S/PDIF optical to give you a choice in how you connect the device into your AV setup. The list of supported codecs is impressively long; InsideHW could not find anything it would not play. Engadget found one for sale in Taiwan for $169, but is hard to guess what price we will see in the North American market.
“ASUS O!Play arrived in our test lab as first device of this kind made by ASUS and in area where WD TV is considered to be one of the best devices in Home Entertainment segment. Of course we were very interested to see how newcomer will prove himself. Our previous experience with similar devices shows that manufacturers often made mistakes that significantly diminished usability of their devices…” Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Silent PC Review | Subject: System
A small brushed aluminium box that resembles a high end receiver hides inside of it just enough space for an HTPC. The Luxa LM100 has a simple front panel with a small LCD display and a cover hiding firewire and other connectors. Cooling comes in the form of several 50mm fans and any CPU heatsink you desire, as long as it is shorter than 10.2cm. Check out SPCR's final verdict in their review here.
"SPCR's exploration of new mini-IXT cases continues: The Luxa2 LM100 Mini is as far as you'll get from a junky beige box - it is downright beautiful. It's a highly priced, high quality, low profile Shuttle-like enclosure with a sturdy and elegant aluminum body, a small LCD display and remote control. How fares it against the more pedestrian boxes from Antec and Silverstone that we've reviewed recently?" Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: AnandTech | Subject: System
The ASUS AT3N7A-I is Inspiring Innovation, Persistent Perfection and will Perfectly suit your digital lifestyle. It is also an Atom based system with 8 USB ports,1 PS2 port, HDMI and VGA out, coax/optical out, eSATA, Ethernet and has six 1/8” jacks for analog audio out. ASRock also has as new Ion machine out, a complete system with a mini-ITX case, power supply, 2GB of memory, DVD drive and a 320GB hard drive. Find out how they compare to each other, as well as a Zotac unit over at AnandTech. "ASUS tested the waters with its value manufacturing brand earlier this year. ASRock put out an Ion system based on the Intel Atom 330 processor; note the use of the word system. The ASRock Ion differed from the Zotac Ion motherboard in that it was a barebones system complete with mini-ITX chassis, external power supply, 2GB of RAM, slim optical drive and 320GB hard drive. All you needed to add was an OS." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Digital Trends | Subject: System
At first glance, the HP Pavilion Slimline s5160f seems like an HTPC system; small and slim build, Blu-ray drive, TV tuner and a wireless mouse and keyboard combo. Inside the machine you find a Core2 Quad Q8200 and 6GB of DDR3-1066 which offers a bit more power than you might expect, making word processing and surfing a strong possiblity. The main downfall of the system is the NVIDIA GeForce G210 graphics card, you won't be gaming on the Slimline but you'll have no problem with streaming video. If you are looking for a machine powerful enough for a machine used productively with the ability to play HD Blu-ray movies after the work day is done, take a look at this recent review from Digital Trends.
"HP pitches its Pavilion Slimline s5160f desktop PC as 'made for multimedia.' But if your definition of multimedia includes hardcore games, steer a wide berth around this machine. It’s a capable enough computer for digital photography, music, TV, and movies, but it doesn’t have the graphics horsepower that state-of-the-art games demand." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Gamepyre | Subject: System
The ASUS My Cinema EHD3-100 Dual Hybrid TV Card is a PCIe card, giving it that extra bandwidth necessary for HD video. It can handle both digital and analog signals, in case you have elderly appliances that are not up to handling digital input. Its dual nature comes from the ability to let you watch one program while recording another to your PC or a TiVO and other PVRs. Gamepyre was quite impressed with the quality provided by this card, though they did run into some difficulties with console gaming and thought it was time to include HDMI.
"The functionality of the card and quality of video is very good to great depending on the signal being captured. Watching TV and recording your favorite series is done easily and quickly with the EHD3-100 Dual Hybrid TV Card. The only thing the card is actually missing would be an HDMI input, but I know that will be in a later model as HDMI capture is still in its infancy. If you want high quality capturing with lots of functionality then the EHD3-100 Dual Hybrid TV Card is a great choice. The ability to setup and connect more then one input at a time is convenient. The setup and install of the software and card are easy enough that I am sure that most users will have no problem setting this unit up. Asus has done an excellent job in replacing my previous card with their new card EHD3-100 Dual Hybrid TV Card. Good job Asus and I look forward to that HDMI version down the road." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PCStats | Subject: System
Having just updated the PC Perspective Hardware Leaderboard early this week with various components like MSI's new flagship X58 motherboard, a sub $200 HD4890 and some incredible deals on DDR3; it seems only appropriate to offer other choices. PC Stats has finished updating their three system recommendations. Their budget and mainstream PCs are both AMD machines, the X2 245 powering the $500 machine and the X4 920 inside of the $1000 build. The $2000 machine is where you will find the Core i7.
"Not sure what PC hardware is worth getting in these tough economic times? PCSTATS Shoppinglist for August 2009 has recommendations for three price points - $500, $999, $2000 - to help put you on the right path no matter what your budget." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
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