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Samsung's Core 2 Duo-powered BZ60 desktop
With Intel formally rolling out its Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors today, we were expecting to see more new machines with these chips besides the Gateways we brought you earlier, and our friends over at Samsung did not disappoint. The Korean manufacturer has just announced a new desktop known as the BZ60, which rocks the 1.86GHz E6300 variety of Core 2 Duo, and also throws down nVIDIA GeForce 6200 graphics, 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM, and a capacious 320GB SATA2 hard drive. As far as pricing and availability goes, well, we have no clue about the former, and the latter is rather inconsequential considering that this model will probably never make it stateside. Stay tuned, because new dual-core models -- ones that you will be able to purchase -- should be coming at a fast and furious pace in the coming hours and days...
Evesham releases SLI-enabled Quest Nemesis notebook
If Evesham's 19-inch Quest A630 gaming rig was just a little too much laptop for you, now the company has introduced another dual-core model that maintains the A630's SLI goodness but drops two inches off the screen -- and a full $1,300 off the pricetag. The new 17-inch Quest Nemesis features a Turion 64 processor from AMD, dual nVidia GeForce Go 7900 video cards, 1,680 x 1,050 WSXGA resolution, 160GB worth of 5400RPM SATA drives, and 1GB of rather pokey 333MHz DDR RAM, along with a DVD burner, 3-in-1 card reader, and Bluetooth and 802.11g radios. There's also a full suite of connectivity options, including FireWire, DVI, VGA, S-Video, S/PDIF, and 4 USB 2.0 ports, as well as an ExpressCard slot for eventually adding a wireless 3G modem. You can order the 8.8-pound Nemesis right away starting at $2,775, or wait around for the inevitable flood of identical rebadges that will probably drive the price down a bit.[Via Pocket-Lint]
Sony's Blu-ray-equipped Vaio AR laptop reviewed
Surely one of the most highly-anticipated notebooks of the year, Sony's Blu-ray-sporting Vaio VGN-AR190G offers a lot of compelling features for HD buffs on paper -- 1,920 x 1,200 WUXGA+ Xbrite display, HDMI out (cable and DVI-adapter included), 200GB worth of storage, and of course that high definition optical drive -- but specs don't mean much if the machine can't perform in the real world. Thus we've been eagerly awaiting the first reviews of this 8.4-pound, 17-inch model, and much to our delight, it seems to work almost exactly as advertised. Laptop magazine was lucky enough to get a pre-release unit for putting through the old benchmark torture test, and came away very impressed with the high resolution, anti-glare screen and video output quality, pretty impressed with the performance of the 2.0GHz T2500 Core Duo CPU and nVidia GeForce Go 7600 GT graphics, and not all that impressed with the 2-hour battery life, inconveniently-placed trackpad/mouse buttons, and pokey 1.0x Blu-ray burning speed. Still, the simple fact that you can burn to an HD optical disc at all puts the AR190G in a class by itself and makes it more attractive than Toshiba's Qosmio G35-AV650 with read-only HD DVD, but Laptop still feels that even the burner and the better screen don't quite justify the extra $500 you'll have to thrown down for the Sony.
Averatec's 10.6-inch AV1150 ultra-portable notebook
Averatec has just released the first member of its new 1100 series of ultra-portable notebooks, the AV1150-EW1, which sports the same low voltage Pentium M chip that we saw last year in the company's 1000 series, but improves on several other key specs. The most notable difference between the two series is the inclusion of a DVD burner on the new model, although doubling the RAM from 512MB to 1GB is certainly a much appreciated bump as well. All the rest of the features -- 80GB HDD, integrated graphics, WXGA display, and 802.11b/g -- remain the same, and yet Averatec has still managed to shave off a few ounces to help the 1150 weigh in at just 3.4 pounds. Available immediately online or in select stores, we found this model selling for a wallet-friendly $1,300, which is a bit less than the AV1050 commanded at its debut.[Via The Gadgets Weblog]
Iceman Outdoor PC delivers poolside entertainment
Just like a fellow we once knew who also went by the name of Iceman, Visson's new fan-less, all-weather outdoor PC may be a little off-putting at first (due to its 1.5GHz Via processor and support for just 1GB of RAM, though, not because it seems "dangerous"), but wins you over in the end by getting the job done even in the harshest conditions. While you'd certainly never consider Iceman for your most important computing tasks (read: gaming), the optional digital TV receiver and wireless LAN, along with MPEG-2 decoding, ensure that you can stay entertained even while lounging around the pool -- it would go great with the ginormous inflatable SuperScreen Outdoor Theater System we saw last year. And now, the obligatory Top Gun reference for wrapping up this post: Iceman, you can be our wingman anytime.
Evesham releases 12.1-inch, dual-core Quest A230 laptop
Our favorite UK laptop rebadger is back with a new 12.1-inch member of their Quest series, called the A230, that offers dual-core technology for around $1,500. Featuring AMD's Turion 64 X2 processor, Evesham's A230 also comes with 1GB of RAM under the hood, integrated two-flavor WiFi, a built-in ExpressCard slot, and almost certainly, integrated graphics. British shoppers looking for an ultraportable around 4-pounds (that refers to the weight, not the price, wiseguy) can pick up their very own A230 immediately.[Via Core Duo Info]
