November 20th, 2009

Chrome OS - The good, the bad and the ugly, and how it fits in with Windows, Mac and Linux

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 5:34 am

Categories: Hardware, Software

Tags: Google Inc., Apple Macintosh, Operating System, Operating Systems, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Software, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

After yesterday’s Google Chrome OS announcement I’ve had a little time to think about Google’s vision for the OS and how it fits in with Windows, Mac and Linux.

The Good

There’s a lot I like about Chrome OS because it sound different enough and radical enough to maybe get people thinking a little differently about what an OS is and how it relates, how to secure it, how it interacts with the hardware and how the user interacts with the it. Certainly the way that Google plans to make Chrome OS speedier and more secure shows that there’s been a lot of out of the box thinking going on.

Note: What was interesting at yesterday’s announcement was that during the Q&A session at the end how many of the tech press questions and comments seemed to want to drag the project back from being radical and make it into what we already have,

For example, take changes to the boot sequence …

… verified boot …

… and how easy it is to re-image the OS following malware or corruption …

There’s also tight integration with Google’s massive array of online apps. Now, depending on how you view Google this can either be a good thing or a very bad thing. However, it’s hard to deny that a machine where all your data and settings are synced to the cloud for both storage and security is a very interesting way to mitigate data and system loss disasters. The idea that your data isn’t tied to a particular system is interesting, and the idea that all local data is encrypted is also very interesting.

I also like the fact that Google has made the project truly open source and is allowing outside developer involvement. Actually, I think it’s been done at exactly the right time too - some of the framework has been put in place, but now the project can evolve. It’ll be interesting to see where it goes.

The Bad, the ugly –>

November 19th, 2009

Apple Tablet - Unofficial, unannounced ... but still delayed

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 6:27 am

Categories: Apple, Hardware, In the news

Tags: Apple Inc., DigiTimes, Tablets, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

It hasn’t been announced it yet, heck, there’s not even any official confirmation of its existence yet, but that doesn’t stop rampant speculation that the Apple’s tablet PC has been delayed until the second half of 2010.

DigiTimes has the info:

“Apple reportedly plans to postpone the launch of its tablet PC from an original March launch schedule to the second half of 2010, as the vendor has decided to switch some components and plans to launch a model using a 9.7-inch OLED panel from LG Display, according to sources from component makers.”

Bottom line, parts will be cheaper come H2 ‘10, which makes sense but then again I don’t see why Apple would “delay” a tablet because of this, given that it’s pretty apparent (especially to a big OEM like Apple) that components get cheaper over time. That’s just common sense.

Should we take reports that a rumored product has been delayed seriously?

November 19th, 2009

Radeon HD 5970 - ATI's killer graphics card

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 5:39 am

Categories: AMD/ATI, Gaming, Graphics, Hardware

Tags: Card, Video Card, ATI Technologies Inc., Graphics, Radeon, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Thought that ATI’s Radeon HD 5870 is a killer graphics card? Well you ain’t seen nothing yet - until you’ve seen the Radeon HD 5970.

So, what’s the big deal about the Radeon HD 5970? Well, it’s basically a Radeon HD 5870 part but with two “Cypress” GPUs on a single printed circuit board (PCB). You can think of the HD 5970 as the X2 version of the HD 5870 in much the same way that we saw X2 versions of the HD 3870 and HD 4870.

The spec of the HD 5970 is very impressive indeed:

The HD 5970 forms part of ATI’s “sweet spot” strategy:

What makes the HD 5970 so special - the dual Read the rest of this entry »

November 17th, 2009

GeForce GT 240 - NVIDIA's sub-$100 DirectX 10.1 graphics card

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 2:50 pm

Categories: Gaming, Graphics, Hardware, NVIDIA

Tags: Card, Video Card, Nvidia GeForce, NVidia Corp., Graphics, DirectX, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

You can get a lot of power for under $100 when it comes to GPUs nowadays, but NVIDIA have just launched the GeForce GT 240 - decent performance, low power consumption and a decent price.

OK, so what’s special about the GeForce GT 240? Well, to begin with, it fully supports DirectX 10.1, something which other high-end NVIDIA cards don’t do. Might seem a trivial point when you consider that ATI already have DirectX 11 parts out  been delayed until (NVIDIA’s Fermi has been delayed until 2010), but it’s darn hard to get hold of any Radeon HD 5870 or 5850 cards. Also, it’s early days for DirectX 11 anyway in terms of games.

OK, so it supports DirectX 10.1, what else is special about the GeForce GT 240? Well, it’s NVIDIA’s most powerful graphics card that doesn’t require an auxiliary PCIe power connector. This means no need to Read the rest of this entry »

November 9th, 2009

OpenOfficeMouse - Put an end to button envy!

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 10:04 am

Categories: Hardware

Tags: Game, Mouse, Envy, OOMouse, Mice, OpenOffice, Open Source, Hardware, Peripherals, Office Suites

WarMouse has announced that it will start selling a mouse specifically designed for the OpenOffice suite early next year. And if you existing mouse gives you a case of button envy, then this is the mouse for you.

The mouse, called OOMouse, features eighteen (count em, eighteen!) buttons!

But that’s not all. Take a look at these raft of features: Read the rest of this entry »

November 3rd, 2009

Hardware 2.0 'Very Best Kit List' for Nov/Dec 09

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 3:48 am

Categories: Components, Cutting Edge, DIY PC, Gadgets, Gaming, Graphics, Hardware

Tags: Card, Board, Western Digital Corp., Overclocking, Motherboard, Price, CPU, Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Corp., Radeon

Welcome to the updated and revamped Hardware 2.0 “Very Best Kit List” for Nov/Dec 09, the last such list for 2009. Here I’ve put together a list of the best high-end and mid-range and budget components currently available. So if you’re thinking of buying, building or even upgrading a PC, this list is a must-read for you!

See also my Holiday Gift Guide 2009 for even more cool kit! 

This time around sees the addition of several new categories, such as netbooks, notebooks, all-in-one PCs, and wireless routers. I’ve also added new products to some of the existing categories too.

These components are on this list because I firmly believe them to be the best either in terms of performance or price - although I’m ready to admit, as always, that there’s room for debate and some choices “go with the gut” more than others.

NOTE: Each time I come out with a list of kit I always end up fielding a few emails and comments from people wondering if companies have “bought” space on the list. Let me tell you now that the only way for a product to get on this list is to be the best - period. Manufacturers, vendors and PR companies have zero influence over this or any other recommendation that I make.

Final note: All prices are approximate … shop around for the best deals!

• CPUs
• Motherboards
• RAM
• Graphics Cards
• Hard Disks
• Sound Cards
• PSUs
• Coolers
• Cases
• Monitors
• Keyboards/Mice
• Netbook
• Notebook
• All-in-One PC
• All-in-One Printer
• In-Car GPS
• Wireless Router 

Next –>

October 28th, 2009

Intel pulls new SSD firmware day after release

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 1:18 pm

Categories: Components, Hardware, Intel, Storage

Tags: Solid State Disk, Firmware, Intel Corp., Firmware Upgrade, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

On Monday Intel released an firmware upgrade for the X25-M solid state drive (SSD). Yesterday, the company pulled the update.

The software package, called SSD Toolbox, was designed to monitor and manage performance and health of the X25-M drive on the Windows 7 OS. However, the firmware update has now been pulled.

Here’s the reason according to Intel:

“We have been contacted by users with issues with the 34-nanometer Intel SSD firmware upgrade and are investigating. We take all sightings and issues seriously and are working toward resolution. We have temporarily taken down the firmware link while we investigate.”

No word from Intel as to when updated firmware will be ready.

If you’re downloaded the update and not installed it, might be a good idea to hold off for now.

October 16th, 2009

Best 'bang for the buck' graphics cards

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 6:41 am

Categories: AMD/ATI, Components, Cutting Edge, Gaming, Graphics, Hardware, NVIDIA, Performance

Tags: Card, Video Card, Graphics, Radeon, Video Cards, Hardware, Components, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

It seems that gamers are no longer willing to blow $500 on a graphics card. More and more of you wan to know what’s the best graphics card you can buy on a limited budget.

In this post I will look at the best graphics card you can buy in four different price brackets.

Sub $100

You can pick up some truly excellent graphics cards for under $100. In fact, if you buy the right bit of kit, you can pretty much get all the graphics card you’ll need for under $100.

There are two cards in particular worth looking at:

• SAPPHIRE 100265HDMI Radeon HD 4830 512MB (around $95)
• PowerColor AX4850 512MD3-PH Radeon HD 4850 512MB (around $99)

Given the choice I’d go for the PowerColor card because it offers a little more performance. Other than that, both have dual-monitor support, support for HDMI and offer a great gaming experience.

Sub $200

OK, with an increased budget you are looking at graphics cards that can deliver amazing gaming experience at high resolutions. Graphics cards in this price category are aimed at hardcore enthusiasts and in order to get the  best from them the rest of your hardware has to be of high-spec too. There’s no point adding an expensive graphics card to a low-end PC!

In the sub $200 price category you want to be looking at cards such as the following:

• XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB (around $175)
• EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 260 (around $199)

Here I’d go for the Radeon HD 5770 because it’s a newer card , based on newer technology, more powerful and cheaper than the NVIDIA card.

Next –>

September 29th, 2009

HP silent on Core i7-based Elite Pavilion PC problems

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 5:09 am

Categories: Hardware

Tags: Hewlett-Packard Co., PC, HP Pavilion, Desktops, Hardware, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

A few days ago a reader tipped me off to an apparent problem with Hewlett-Packard’s Core i7-based Elite Pavilion PC. Here’s what’s changed since my last post …

First off, there’s still no official word from HP on this. There’s a 100+ pages of very unhappy customers who have spent a lot of money on systems that they are finding unusable on HP’s support forum, a situation that really does call for some sort of official word on the matter.

There’s also no official word from Pegatron, the manufacturer of the motherboard considered to be the root cause of the problem.

I’ve also heard from many, many more Core i7-based Elite Pavilion owners who have PCs that are virtually unusable because of random BSoDs, crashes and lock-ups.

Core i7-based Elite Pavilion owners have also given me a very comprehensive idea of the lengths they’ve gone to to try to fix their PCs, everything from new drivers, reloading the HP recovery disc, and installing different Windows version on the PC. Nothing seems to work.

I’ll update this post if HP comes out with an official statement. In the meantime, if you’re a Core i7-based Elite Pavilion PC affected by this problem, let us know how you feel about it.

September 28th, 2009

PSP Go teardown

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 6:24 am

Categories: Gaming, Hardware

Tags: Wireless Internet, Sony PlayStation Portable, Wi-Fi, Wireless And Mobility, Handhelds, Hardware, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

The folks at iFixit have done it again, and posted a teardown of Sony’s new PSP Go handheld game device.

Here are some highlights:

• 16GB NAND flash chips replace the original PSP’s UMD drive (goodbye UMD …).
• Sony still uses an outdated 802.11b chip for wireless internet connectivity. I really can’t understand why this is the case. This is a major let-down.
• The 930 mAh battery is user replaceable! All that stands between you is seven screws and the careful peeling of the Warranty Void sticker. You can get past the Warranty Void sticker by not peeling it back too much …

For more teardown goodness, visit iFixit.