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iBuyPower lets out five liquid-cooled gaming desktops
It's never too early to start thinking about that desktop that you really, really need under the tree by the third week in December, and rather than waiting until the last moment and getting stuck with some random configuration and a lofty overnight shipping fee, iBuyPower is encouraging you to have a gander at the five new liquid-cooled rigs that it just unveiled at NewEgg. The low-end is propped up by the Gamer Extreme 922 SLC at just $989, while the spec'd-out Gamer Supreme 979SLC will set Santa back just under four large. At the top, you'll find luxuries such as Intel's Core i7 975, a Blu-ray drive, 128GB SSD and 1.5TB of HDD space, while lower-end systems snag the likes of a Core i7 860, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD. Peek the via link below for a more robust look at the specifications, and feel free to get your order in now if you like resting easy.
Dell's Inspiron One 19 pops official in Japan
It won't be the first time we've seen an all-in-one from Dell launch first in Japan, and if we were the betting type, we'd guess it won't be the last. The Inspiron One 19 has just popped up over on the outfit's Japanese website, and unless our eyes are badly deceived, this definitely isn't the same as the Studio One 19. Offered up in two basic configurations, consumers can get one outfitted with a 2.6GHz or 2.93GHz Intel processor, Windows 7 Home Premium, 2GB or 4GB of RAM, an 18.5-inch display (1,366 x 768), a 320GB or 500GB SATA hard drive and a DVD burner. It also looks to ship with a budled keyboard and mouse, and unless someone in the back has gone crazy with the Photoshop eraser, both of those connect sans wires. The new AIO can be ordered up now starting at ¥69,980 ($770), though only time will tell when (or if) this one will head stateside.
Acer fulfills prophecy, overtakes Dell as number two PC maker worldwide (update)
As if on cue, here's some new data research firm Gartner lending credence to Lanci's boasting. Looks like Acer has leapfrogged over Dell for the number two spot in global market share for the third quarter of 2009, from 12.5 to 15.4 percent of the Big Pie Chart™. Meanwhile Dell is just below at 12.8 percent, and HP is sitting happily atop with a 19.9 percent ownership. Update: Let us adjust our glasses a bit. According to the charts, Acer is number two in worldwide PC sales, not in US as this previously reported. Stateside, the company is sitting at number three at 13.9 percent, behind HP (25.7 percent) and Dell (26.2 percent). Apologies for the confusion, the person responsible for eyesight has been subsequently sacked, the person responsible for the sacking has been sacked, etc.
Acer: we'll overtake Dell as world's number two PC maker... soon
Acer's President Gianfranco Lanci is talking some big talk these days, but not completely without reason. The Taiwan-based computer manufacturer says it does not expect to see a decline in revenue this year over last, meaning that it should clear somewhere in the realm of $17 billion -- its 2008 revenue figure. Much of the good news (and sales) hails from Asia, where retail markets have not been as hard hit by the economic insanity of the last year. Moreover, Lanci also said that with these figures, Acer "can finally pass Dell" sometime between this quarter and the next. He also added that the company expects to "breach the gap with HP" when it comes to notebooks, netbooks, and smartphones. So... that means we can expect a ton of Acers this year, right? Right. Update: Well, that was fast.
Haiku Alpha 1 available now: BeOS lovers of the world rejoice
A mere eight years in the making, the Haiku Project has announced the release of Haiku R1/Alpha 1, the first official development release of the low footprint open source OS formerly known as OpenBeOS. Since it's an alpha release, you'll be expected to do your part identifying bugs and reporting glitches and the like -- but here's hoping that they at least got Firefox to run in relative stability this time 'round. We know you're too damned giddy at the prospect of installing this thing on your netbook for any more of our prattle, so why don't you just hit the read link and get started, then?[Thanks, Hawkje]
Gold, diamond-leafed Gaiser PCs might just bring Marie Antoinette back from the grave
Don't get us wrong -- we're all in favor of purposeless, ostentatious, and classless displays of wealth -- but we prefer it to be a little less... tacky? German manufacturer High End PCs have the high end part down pat -- they'll dip your desktop in all manners of gold (up to 24 karat!), cubic zirconia and of course, diamonds. Now, we don't have any specs on these puppies -- though we suspect performance is beside the point. Our only real qualm with the product is that it looks like a Kleenex box from Don Johnson's bathroom in 1986. But, if you have a stack of money hanging around and you just can't be bothered to think of really awesome things to do with it, Gaiser's PCs start from about $8,000 and run up to around $33,000. [Via Oh! Gizmo]
Edelweiss PC casemod goes above and beyond insanity
Sure, these days, it can be pretty hard to get super-stoked over a casemod... after all, they're basically a dime a dozen. We're always impressed with the crazy ones though, and this one over at Million Dollar PC -- the Edelweiss (possibly named after our least-favorite song and flower), really takes the crazy and turns it up to 11. We're not even sure what's going on, to be honest, but we can assure you of this much: we're really, really fond of it. Two more shots after the break.[Via Case Mod Blog]
Gateway unveils DX mini-tower and SX small form factor PCs
Nettop? All-in-one? Sometimes you just want a good ole' fashioned desktop, and that's where Gateway's new DX and SX PCs come into play. The SX small form factor, pictured above, has packed in a 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Quad with GMA X4500 integrated graphics, 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, 640GB HDD, a 18x DVD writer, multi-card reader, nine USB 2.0 ports, multi-card reader, firewire and eSATA, HDMI and VGA outputs, and Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit. Asking price for that setup is $499, but if you're looking to game, we don't see much room for adding a hipper graphics card. On the slightly heftier side, the DX mini-tower boasts either an Intel Core 2 Quad or AMD Phenom X4 with NVIDIA GeForce G210 / ATI Radeon 4650 graphics cards, respectively, up to 8GB DDR3 and 1TB HDD, eight USB 2.0 ports, and all the other amenities of the SX for a starting price of $750. Both models are expected for release end of June, which means pretty much now-ish. To top it off, the company's also just released a new FHD display series in 21.5, 23, and 24-inch varieties, and it looks like there's been a spec refresh to its LX and FX desktop lines. Full press release after the break.
Video: hands-on with ASUS' Eee Keyboard at Computex
We first caught sight of ASUS' totally weird Eee Keyboard -- a full PC with an Intel Atom N270 CPU built in -- way back at CES in January. Well, our friends at Engadget Chinese have laid hands on it at Computex, and it's looking a bit different than what we expected... and a whole lot more awesome. The 5-inch, 800 x 480 pixel touchscreen display/trackpad on the right side of the keyboard, is, as it turns out, running a standalone version of XP, and serves as the shortcut screen to most of the included software -- including Skype, MSN, and music playback controls. Our friends found the touchscreen to work extremely well, and though we don't know anything rock solid about pricing or availability yet (we hear it will launch by the end of June, we do know that it will come in two flavors -- wired and and UWB wireless -- with the wireless version housing a battery which gets about two hours of use before needing a charge. There's a video (in Chinese) showing this badboy off after the break. Hit the read link for a full gallery of photos.
Dell Studio One 19 reviewed, deemed totally sufficient but not awesome
Dell's touchscreen Studio One 19's been showboating around the States for a few weeks now, so it's no surprise to see the verdicts start rolling in. Computer Shopper's just reviewed the unit, and while they give it points for its slim and stylish form factor, and for the implementation of the touchscreen, they take away a few for the cloth-laden accents, and complain that the high-end models are expensive and underpowered. They're basically fans of the lower-end configurations, but warn that they don't really think the unit would be very family friendly. There's one more shot of the 19 after the break, and hit the read link for the full review.
Insane Russian casemod shamelessly puts good taste to bed once and for all
We see plenty of wild casemods around here -- staying on the pulse of what's new with the cool kids is part of our jobs. We've never really seen anything like this one, however. We don't know a terrible lot about the case -- just that it's made of what appears to be solid evil dipped in bronze, and lit by the blood of a terrifying hellbeast. Regardless: it's going to look great in your living room... once you convince Satan to sell it to you for a reasonable price, that is. One more terrifically horrendous photo after the break.
Dell's rainbow-hued Inspiron desktops now available
There's a certain breed of person out there that wants everything to be available in a plethora of colors and options, infinitely customizable to fit the personality of whatever room it'll inhabit. That breed of person is us. Dell's customizable addition to the Inspiron line -- which includes the 537 and the 537s -- present the buyer with a host of options -- eight different colors, a choice of Intel Celeron, AMD Sempron, Core 2 Quad and Phenom X4 CPUs, up to 8GB of RAM, integrated Intel graphics or ATI Radeon GPUs, and up to 750GB HDD for the slim tower and 1TB for the mini-tower. The Promise Pink model is part of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure program, and we have a feeling we'll be seeing it pop up over on Della any minute now. The starting price for the lowest-end model is $299 and they're available now. One more shot after the break. [Via Desktop Review]
OBAMA PC sure to bring hope to your desktop, a tear or two to your eyes
Obama's already inspired a cell phone and an MP4 player, but this is the first desktop we've seen tipping its hat to our Commander in Chief. What's really awesome about this one, of course, is that its makers (Taiwanese company SEED) seemed to think that merely naming the PC "Obama" would result in capturing some of the magic... because other than the name, it's just a plain-old, boring desktop. It packs a patriotic Atom N230 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and a 500GB SATA hard drive, plus it's got four USB 2.0 port and an ethernet port around the back, just to name a few. The presidentially named PC is only available in Taiwan, for the oh so affordable price of NT$7,999 (about $242). We're kind of hoping this is just the first in a long line of POTUS-named PCs for SEED, so may we suggest the next one be dubbed POLK or FILLMORE? [Thanks, TheLostSwede]
Pyramid PC casemod will look really cool on your desk next to your Crysis poster
Casemods range from the peculiar to the spaceage, but this one -- a pyramid PC case -- kinda takes things to the next level of outrageousness. Weighing in at 7.5 pounds (just for the case) this 25-inch high beast is not exactly compact, with a 19 x 19-inch base. Modder polo360x made it from a customized Luxor pyramid case, and, and in our opinion, it fits in nicely with his home decor choices. Check out another two shots and hit the read link for many, many more, plus a full specsheet.[Via Geeky Gadgets]
The Escapist takes a look at multiboxing
Multiboxing. It sounds like cheating when you have one man controlling two or more characters, but it's more of a pain to work with than it is a straight out cheat. Whatever your feelings are on the situation though, you have to admit, people who do multiboxing have some tremendously interesting setups and rigs to accomplish this difficult feat.The Escapist has just let loose a feature article detailing the stories of users who multibox, why they do it, and exactly how they accomplish it on their game of choice. It's a very interesting look at the whole situation, especially when the reasons of why these normal people choose to run more account at once in their favorite game rather than just join groups or work solo are fully explained.If you're interested in reading the full five page feature article, head on over to The Escapist and check out what Greg Tito was able to uncover.
Laptops outship desktops for the first time worldwide
Laptops have been out-shipping desktops in the US for years upon years (upon years), but it wasn't until now that such a scenario was true worldwide. According to iSuppli, global notebook computer shipments exceeded those of desktops for the first time ever in Q3 of this year, a "watershed event" according to it. More specifically, notebook PC shipments surged around 40% to 38.6 million units, while desktop shipments slipped 1.3% to 38.5 million. We'd say this is a marvelous day and a sign of what's to come, but haven't we all known that desktops were being reserved for hardcore gaming, computational science and games of chess for years now?
Laptop shipments exceed desktops in US for the not-exactly-first time
Hope you're eager to break into that Halloween candy early, because you've got some (re)celebrating to do. If you'll recall, we first heard that laptops accounted for over half of US retail computer sales back in 2003, and in June of 2005, we found that it was somehow worth getting jazzed over once more when it happened again. Here we are in the latter half of 2008 shaking our heads in disappointment, as IDC has amazingly discovered that notebook shipments into the US market have exceeded the 50% threshold for the first time ever. Go ahead and stock up on rave supplies early -- we get this weird feeling that we'll be doing this same song and dance in 2010 or so.[Image courtesy of DayLife]
Dell pre-loading music mixes, CinemaNow movies, world again asks "Why?"
When Dell started pre-loading digital copies of Iron Man in new systems for $19, we didn't think that was very enticing, but at least it was a pretty good movie, right? Quite possibly encouraged by thousands of accidental purchases (we kid, sort of), Dell's announced two new content pre-loading partnerships -- Universal Music Group and CinemaNow. The music comes in 50 and 100 song bundles starting at $25, but at least it's DRM-free, so if you don't mind a mega mix chosen entirely by Dell it's not all evil. CinemaNow, though, offers $25 and up bundles including (among other flicks) world-renown classics like The Fast and the Furious and the Matrix sequels. Fear.Read - Universal Music GroupRead - CinemaNow
Wallpaper Clocks
I was on the hunt today for a clock application and ran across an interesting implementation in Wallpaper Clock. Basically it's a small application that dynamically redraws your Desktop every minute, to keep your time and date, well, up-to-date. The application itself is free, but requires particular artwork files in a variety of designs. Some of these clock files are available in a free, low-quality version, while others are only available to registered users (along with the free ones in higher-quality versions). It is also possible to create your own Wallpaper Clocks with your own images.Wallpaper Clocks is a free download however there is a registration fee for subscription based access to the maker's website with artwork unavailable in the free version. Subscriptions are $8.99 for 3 months, $12.99 for 6 months, $19.99 for one year, and $29.99 for lifetime access.
Apple sets "gold standard for corporate America"
There's a glowing article about Apple at Fortune today. Here was the stand-out line for me:"Apple's philosophy goes like this: Too many companies spread themselves thin, making a profusion of products to defuse risk, so they get mired in the mediocre. Apple's approach is to put every resource it has behind just a few products and make them exceedingly well."Consider Apple's product line. There are three laptops, the MacBook, the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air. Even a potential customer who's never used a computer before can understand the distinctions just by hearing their names. "MacBook" is obviously the basic laptop. The "MacBook Pro" is obviously a "better," or professional, model and the Air is somehow different than the two. Easy.Not to pick on Sony, but look at their lineup of Vaio laptops: Vaio UX Series Vaio TZ Series Vaio SZ Series Vaio CR Series Vaio FZ Series Vaio NR Series Vaio AR Series What? Just reading the names, I can't surmise anything about the differences between these machines. Plus, there are seven models vs. Apple's three.The same goes for desktops. Apple builds three; the iMac (a name nearly everybody knows), the Mac mini (obviously smaller and, one would assume, lower priced) and the Mac Pro, which follows the pro-level naming convention of the laptop line.The iPod line is slightly more convoluted (if "convoluted" is even the right word) with four models iPod shuffle iPod nano iPod classic iPod touch I bet the classic will eventually be replaced by the touch, once the cost of flash drives comes down. The Fortune article is full of good stuff, so go and read it. [Via MacDailyNews]
