AmiloGraphicbooster
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Beta driver allows AMILO GraphicBooster to shed the external display
Fujitsu Siemens's AMILO GraphicBooster has already proven itself to be pretty capable when hooked up to an external monitor, but a new beta driver now looks set to make the add-on even more convenient, and let you use it with the Sa 3650 laptops' own display. Better still, that apparently doesn't come at much, if any, expense to performance, but any other details (including word of availability) are unfortunately a bit light at the moment. You can draw your own conclusions from the video after the break, however, although Fujitsu Siemens' inability to produce a video in the proper aspect ratio may not inspire all that much confidence.[Thanks, Max_P]
FSC Amilo Sa 3650 laptop and GraphicBooster tested, deemed flawed but synergistic
Having already seen it run Crysis, we've been itching to know if Fujitsu Siemens' AMILO Sa 3650 laptop and GraphicBooster had any other tricks up their sleeves. The Notebookcheck crew ran the dynamic duo through some tests and found it to be an impressive pairing, although the laptop itself takes a few jabs for shoddy case design, stiff touchpad keys and an underperforming AMD processor. By its lonesome, the integrated ATI Radeon HD 3200 GPU is better than the usual Intel GMA fare, but the GraphicBooster and an external monitor puts this machine nearly on par with a decent desktop rig. Without that external monitor, however, the GraphicBooster only provides marginal improvements to the laptop's performance, due to limitations in the bandwidth connecting the add-on to the port. The second display is connected directly to the booster via DVI-I or HDMI. An asking price of 1300 Euros (US $1,810) seems a bit steep to us, but they say it's worth the premium, calling it an "unprecedented fusion of performance and mobility." Hit up the read link for a full analysis.[Thanks, Jamil]
Fujitsu Siemens rolls out AMILO Sa 3650 laptop, GraphicBooster add-on
Fujitsu Siemens has been showing off its AMILO Sa 3650 and AMILO GraphicBooster add-on for a few months now, and we even recently saw the combo put to the Crysis test, but it looks like both are now finally, actually rolling out to the general public. In case you missed it, the laptop itself is a 13-inch, AMD-based number (your choice of Turion X2 or Athlon X2 processors), with an ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics card, up to 4GB of RAM, and either and either a 250GB or 320GB hard drive. The GraphicBooster add-on, which currently only works with the Sa 3650, is based around an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 graphics card, and promises a 470% increase in graphics performance over the laptop's built-in graphics. No word on prices just yet, unfortunately but both the laptop and the GraphicBooster add-on will apparently be available at some "specialist retailers" this month.[Via MobileTechReview]
Fujitsu set to debut AMILO GraphicBooster external graphics card
We've heard plenty of promises of external graphics solutions for laptops in the past, and it looks like Fujitsu Siemens is now about to join the party as well, with it reportedly set to debut its AMILO GraphicBooster in the "next couple of weeks." That word apparently comes from a leaked presentation from the company which, unfortunately, doesn't include all the details we'd like, but does at least reveal a few tantalizing bits of information. As Notebook Review reports, the device is based on ATI XGP technology, which supposedly provides a 4.7X boost in graphics performance over a standard Fujitsu AMILO laptop (it's not clear if they're talking about integrated graphics or not), or a score of about 8,000 in 3DMark06 benchmarks. What's more, the device will also apparently let you connect up to three external displays to your laptop, with both DVI-D and HDMI ports provided. Of course, there's no word on pricing or availability, which could lead one to suspect that this is yet another device we'll still be hearing about a year from now -- if you're the cynical type, that is.[Thanks, Master_P]
