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Dell S2330MX ultra-slim monitor reckons it's gorgeous, actually just 'above average'
Dell's much bragged-about skinny 23-incher just got put through its paces by the bods at HotHardware. Their conclusion? The 1080p display sports glossily good aesthetics and scores major points for its lumbar-loving 8.3-pound weight and 0.4-inch waistline (which burgeons to 1.19-inches around the ports). The twisted nematic panel isn't up to IPS standards and won't satisfy graphics or photography pros, but the LED backlighting produces good brightness and better-than-average black levels. Gaming was held back by minor streaking despite the 2ms response time, while Blu-ray movies suffered slightly in darker scenes. All in, a "relatively good buy" at $250 -- although you might want to check out the source link to see if the S2330MX meets your exact requirements.
Slimmer 5.25-inch internal optical drive gets wolf-whistled at Computex
Fatty internal optical drives have so far been content to sit back and watch their external cousins do all the figure-slimming push-ups. But this low-profile 5.25-inch slot-loader clearly got bored of being XXL. It was spotted eating carrot sticks and taking up significantly less than its allotted bay space inside an Antec Solo II chasis at Computex. According to AnandTech, it represents a new industry standard that will start hitting the market by the end of the year -- along with new cases designed to hold it. Slot-loaders may not appeal to everyone, but if you're in the market to buy or build a small form factor PC then this baby might just turn your head.
HP discreetly introduces all-in-one 200xt, refreshes desktop lineup
What, no red carpet unveiling for new desktops? It seems HP's portability-deficient PCs have gone through a number of tweaks as of late. The Pavilion and Slimline collection ranges from Intel Celerons and AMD Semprons to Core i5s and Phenoms. Pavilion Elites crank it up a notch further with numerous Phenom and Core i7 multi-core processors. All-in-one MS230z gets a recharge, too, but the TouchSmarts remain largely, erm, untouched since its late April cleanup. The closest we have to a new model here is the all-in-one 200xt, which really is just a 200t with Intel's Core 2010 chips. Exact details of the upgrades are sketchy, but the real takeaway here is that you were looking into a new HP desktop, now's as good of a time as any. Full list of updated models via LogicHP.
Sharp reveals gamer-centric 1080p LC-32GP3U AQUOS LCD TV
Sharp's new GP3U family may be marketed towards the sophisticated gamer, but we're pretty certain just about anyone could get down with a set like this. Announced today, the 32-inch LC-32GP3U comes in a trio of hues (black, wine red and white), boasts a "unique swivel stand for ultimate viewing and gaming flexibility," and offers up bottom-mounted speakers to boot. Furthermore, this 1080p AQUOS touts a slim-line design, a Game Mode button on the remote for activating Vyper Drive and providing quick access to side terminals, a subwoofer audio output, two component / three HDMI 1.3 inputs, a VGA port, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, six-millisecond response time, integrated ATSC / NTSC tuner with Clear QAM support, 450 cd/m2 brightness and 176-degree viewing angles. If you're champing at the bit to fix your eyes on this one, all three versions will be available just in time for you-know-what for $1,599.99.
Epson's budget slim-line tower, the Endeavor AT960
Japanese consumers looking for a slim-line tower PC on the cheap could probably do worse than Epson's latest Endeavor desktop, the AT960, which features a 2.53GHz Celeron D processor and 256MB of DDR2 RAM for $420. More yen lets you step up to a Pentium 4 chip as fast as 3.8GHz, up to 2GB of RAM and 250GB of hard drive space (compared to the sparse 40GB in the base configuration), WiFi, and a DVD burner -- but no amount of money can improve upon the ATI Radeon Xpress 200 integrated graphics. Likewise, there's not much you can do about the dearth of input options, so the four USB 2.0 hookups and serial and parallel ports are gonna have to stand in for the missing FireWire.
