So, we hear you're edging ever closer to pulling the trigger on a shiny new XPS 420, huh? Lucky you, as it looks like Dell just opened up your options. While the only processor choices on the XPS 630 are the E8500 and the absurdly expensive QX6850 (it's an $850 addition), the XPS 420 now has a half dozen CPUs to pick from. Most notably, users can now get their rig equipped with a Core 2 Quad Q9300 / Q9450, both of which provide much more oomph than the baseline chips while not forcing you to refinance your home and pick the QX9650. So, when can the aforesaid 630 expect similar selections?

[Thanks, Evan]

Remember those AMD Business Class desktops we told you about, oh, just hours ago? Looks like the first of the family are starting to roll out, beginning with the HP Compaq dc5850 and dx2450 Business Desktop PCs. Both rigs support "next-generation AMD Business Class processors" (that's the Athlon X2, Phenom X3 and Phenom X4) along with the usual complement of slots / ports, and while the former gets integrated ATI Radeon 3100 graphics, AMD's Cool'n'Quiet 2.0 technology, up to 8GB of RAM, an optional dual-drive RAID setup and a dual-layer DVD writer, the latter boasts NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE graphics, room for 4GB of RAM and up to 500GB of SATA HDD space. Best of all, both machines come in pretty easy on the wallet, with the dc5850 hitting in early May for $599 and the dx2450 available now for $369.

Under most circumstances, we too would take one glance at the monolith pictured above and scream in horror. But of course, we're entirely sure you're familiar with the wacky machines emerging from NextComputing. The ultra-tough Vigor Evo HD is hailed as the company's "highest performance rugged workstation," and besides offering up a floating chassis which absorbs all sorts of bumps and shocks, it also comes with a 17-inch LCD plastered right on the side. Said panel is covered with a hard-coated protective screen, and sitting just beneath that is your choice of AMD / Intel processors, up to four PCIe or PCI-X 64-bit slots, a dual-layer DVD writer, up to 3TB of internal HDD space and most everything else you'd find in a pre-fab desktop. Of course, it loses the vast majority of its intimidation factor when equipped with the optional wheels / telescoping handle package, but we won't tell anyone if you're not man / woman enough to lug it over your shoulder.

You all laugh at us for religiously trawling the FCC site during our rare free moments, and yet every once in awhile those countless hours of tedium pay off big time: meet Dell's unannounced all-in-one XPS One. What we're seeing here is a likely 22-inch WSXGA (1,680 x 1,050) display flanked by stereo speakers (with media buttons running up one side), topped off by a webcam, and featuring a slot-loading Blu-ray burner along the right bezel. On the inside we've got a number of processor options from Intel (the FCC test unit had a 2.66GHz E6750 Core 2 Duo), integrated or ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2400 graphics, up to 4GB of RAM, four-flavor WiFi plus Bluetooth, and the usual slew of connectors including S/PDIF and a proprietary port for an optional breakout TV dongle. Input comes via the included wireless mouse and keyboard, and Dell's also loaded up a memory card reader, making for quite the capable multimedia PC. We'd expect this desktop to be priced well above the recent Gateway model with which it shares a moniker -- which isn't such a big deal, really, as $2,000+ price tags have never really stopped XPS customers before. For all the angles, make sure to hit up the gallery below...

Just last month, we heard rumblings that HP may begin offering up two-faced optical drives in its desktops, and sure enough, a variety of select Pavilions are now being served up with HD DVD and / or Blu-ray compatibility. The d4995t, m9000t and m9000z all give users the option of purchasing a vanilla dual-layer DVD burner, an HD DVD / Blu-ray combo player (that also burns DVDs), or a drive that burns Blu-ray / DVD and reads HD DVD. Additionally, a number of lesser-spec'd rigs also provide users the option of picking up an HD combo drive of some sort, and you can even snap up ATI's TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner on the d4995t and m9000t (among others).

[Thanks, Ryan]

Gateway is passing around an invite to New York's Digital Life attendees, promising the grand unveiling of... something. The invite is tagged with a cute little "Gateway One" logo, or maybe it's "One Gateway," and all signs are pointing towards a new all-in-one PC with decent aesthetics. Also, breakfast will be served, so you know we're all over it. The press conference will be at 9AM EDT on September 27th.

So HP's trying to get all lifestyle-friendly with a few new desktop PC designs, and while the looks and form factors aren't a huge departure for HP by any means, the prices are right, specs are decent, and the looks aren't too shabby. The real looker of the bunch is the relatively tiny HP Pavilion Slimline s3000 series, which starts at $500 with an AMD processor and 1GB of RAM, or $550 if you're going the Intel route. You can configure the desktop with a TV tuner, a couple low rent video cards, and there's a Pocket Media Drive bay option if you're into that kind of thing. If that's still too spendy for you, you can grab from the a6000 set, with prices starting at $330 for an Intel processor, 512MB of RAM, a Pocket Media Drive bay, integrated graphics and not much else. Finally, the m8000 desktops get "fancy" with options for HD DVD drives, beefy dual core processors from AMD or Intel, and prices starting at $950. All of the computers come with Vista preloaded -- which might give these limited specs a bit of a work out -- and are available now.

Intel's been on a tear when it comes to announcing new products lately, and while the upcoming McCaslin UMPC platform and new Core 2 Duo ULV CPUs will appeal mostly to road warriors, the 2.93GHz QX6800 Core 2 Extreme quad core beast is targeted squarely at power users. As with the step up from the dual core E6700 to E6800, though, you're paying more than double the price ($999 $1,200 versus $530) when moving from the Q6700 to QX6800, but getting less than a 300MHz bump in speed. Our advice? Leave this new chip for the boutique gaming manufacturers, and put the extra money towards a motherboard that'll let you overclock a less expensive model hassle-free.

We've been given vague promises about this not-too-very-exciting keyboard / mouse / iPod dock combo for more than a year now, with the first product shots showing a 4G iPod nested in the dock. But Razer has finally come forward with a release date and price, so if you've been unable to operate your computer for the past year or so due to your lack of input devices, have no fear. The Razer Pro|Type Keyboard will be out on April 6th for $130, features media buttons, 10 programmable keys with backlights, two USB ports and a line-out jack, and 10 customizable "profiles" for setup switching. Yeah, sorry, a whole year later that's just not doing much for us, but if you're a Razer fan, don't let us stand in your way.

Chinese computer manufacturer Hasee looks to be bringing some relatively low-cost all-in-one PC action to its home country, recently announcing its F200D model, which just manages to squeeze under 3,000 yuan mark (about $388). Of course, that much yuan only goes so far, netting you only a 15.4-inch widescreen display, an Intel Celeron M 360 processor, 512MB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive, Intel GMA 900 integrated graphics, a DVD drive, and six USB 2.0 ports to satisfy your expansion appetite. There doesn't appear to be any word on an exact release date, or any indication if it'll be available outside of China, though we wouldn't bet on it.

While it's never going to compete on price with the ultra-cheap, homegrown $203 desktop we saw late last year, Dell's new 2,600 yuan ($335) entry into the Chinese PC market certainly has a chance to make a few waves in a country where the average machine costs almost twice that. Reports thus far are pretty light on the specs (unnamed Intel CPU, up to 512MB of RAM and 80GB of storage, XP Home Edition), but obviously the real story here is not some five-year-old tech but the fact that Dell is making aggressive moves against entrenched players Lenovo and Founder, with the former manufacturer claiming over a third of the market at present. Still, Dell is already number three in China, and assuming that consumers have forgotten about that CPU switcheroo mini-scandal from last summer, it looks like the battle will be heating up once again to see which company can be the first to offer its hardware completely free.

Read - Reuters
Read - BBC

Microsoft seems to have a keyboard / mouse bundle for every day of the week, but this Wireless Laser Desktop 4000 setup (the Wireless Optical Desktop 4000 is pictured) has some promising buttonry for making your Windows Vista and Windows Live experiences a bit easier. The bundle includes a Wireless Laser Mouse 5000 and a Comfort Curve keyboard, which features keys for zoom, favorites, Windows Gadget, Windows LiveCall and other hot keys. The mouse does the tilt wheel thing for four-way scrolling, and the pair will be retailing in April for $80.

Update: Added the official Laser Desktop 4000 pic, see if you can spot the difference! (Hint, we can't.)