i-mate Ultimate 6150

We've all played some form of that game where two photographs are put side by side, and you try to find five differences within a short time. That's the feeling we got when looking at the image of the i-mate Ultimate 6150 beside the 8150 model. In this case, it isn't particularly hard to spot the differences.

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Notebook Price Watch

With COMEX coming our way in another fortnight, our next foray to Sim Lim Square for the latest notebook prices will be a week after the show on September 7. There were no new notebooks announced since the last edition of Price Watch.

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Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard

The Tarantula is the perfect partner for your gaming mouse as this keyboard from Razer has tons of features designed for the hardcore gamer. Ever since the world of gaming got serious, professional gaming grade products have cropped up all over the place...

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Coolermaster Unveils New Notebook Cooler NotePal Infinite

Coolermaster introduces a new range of notebook cooling device, the NotePal Infinite that boasts a 150% increase in its cooling area and multiple heat source cooling.

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SiS672FX - Budget for Budget's Sake

The SiS672FX is a chipset featuring an updated Mirage 3+ IGP engine that is now certified for Windows Vista Premium. It supports all current Intel 1066MHz FSB processors including the Core 2 Quad and features very impressive energy efficiency operation - at a price. Read on.

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Logitech QuickCam Ultra Vision SE Webcam

In this review, Benchmark Reviews will evaluate the progression of technology into a product which hopes to establish itself as the pinnacle of PicturePhone evolution: Logitech's QuickCam Ultra Vision Special Edition Webcam.

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NEC and Hitachi Team To Water-Cool Hard Drives

Hitachi and NEC have joined forces to create quieter and cooler hard drives using the power of hydrogen and oxygen (otherwise known as water).

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Sony VAIO VGN-TZ18GN (Centrino Duo)

Sony has prepared a new, luxurious series of ultra-portable notebooks to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the first Sony VAIO notebook. Join us as we take a look at the latest high-end piece of desirable hardware from Sony's design team.

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Logitech Wave Keyboard Review

Sometimes you wonder how else could a keyboard be improved so that it is radically different. You have wired keyboards, wireless keyboards, ergonomically designed keyboards, foldable keyboards, the list goes on. So what is so different about Logitech's Wave Keyboard? As the name suggests, you might get a hint already.

Logitech calls it the "exciting new shape for comfort". In essence, it is an ergonomically designed keybord which focuses on contoured shape keys to hold your fingers and the "wave" shaped keyboard is supposed to promote a correct typing position for your hands. The palm rest is made of soft material, to reduce the stress to your wrists when typing. Really, it looks cool but is nothing new. You have seen palm and wrist pads everywhere. Nevertheless, integrating it as part of the keyboard with cushion supports is commendable. Since comfort for typing is the theme here, you will not find anything less than what you have seen before. You have height adjustments for tilt angle for easier typing. I am sure that is no surprise. What is neat though is that, if you use headphones and it is a wired one, you can tuck it in neatly under a channel found under the keyboard. Simple but neat solution.

It seems like both hardware and software manufacturers are obsessed with the Vista OS. Of course, with more people using it everyday, it makes sense to make their products compatible. Logitech implements one touch buttons for Vista features such as Flip 3D, Zoom, Photo Gallery, and Gadgets. In addition, you get media controls such as voolume control and programmable function keys. Pretty convenient to use, and is almost a bridge between a normal keyboard and a gaming keyboard.

Connection is easy via USB. It comes with a CD-ROM, but you need not use it you you choose not to. Vista recognizes the keyboard even with no third party software. Apart from that, I think it is a great looking keyboard and feels great to use provided you got enough desktop space, as it is quite large. A 5 year warranty that comes with it is good news too.

BenQ Joybook S41 (Intel Santa Rosa)

BenQ's latest Joybook, the S41 leads the company's charge of notebooks refreshed with the Santa Rosa platform. Aided by NVIDIA's DirectX 10 compatible GeForce 8600M GS graphics chipset, can this notebook be one of the bargains of the year?

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Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R (Intel P35)

Gigabyte updates its S-Series of motherboards with the Intel P35 chipset and introduces their new Ultra Durable 2 design. The GA-P35-DS3R recaptures the old magic of the GA-965P-DS3 as a great budget board with an incredible appetite for speed. Check out the full review right here.

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ASUS EN8600GT OC Gear 256MB DDR3

Tweaking your graphics cards is now as simple as turning a knob with ASUS' OC Gear edition of the GeForce 8600 GT. We tried our hand at fiddling with this new product and here's what we found.

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Dell XPS M1330 Review

The Dell XPS M1330 is considered by many to be a breakthough in design, which I agree. It sure beats the traditional functional but boring design, which looks no different from other notebooks. This is certainly a plus point for Dell fans out there.

What is also nice is that, this notebook is light and thin. It proves that Dell has been listening to its consumers. Finally, you can show off your Dell at Starbucks instead of trying to hide it from the next table using a Sony Vaio.

The design is not totally flat, but with curves at the sides and corners. It is a sloping design, with the front thinner than the back. I would think that it aims to promote a better typing posture. Weighing in at approximately 1.7 kgs, this 13-inch notebook is definitely in the ultra-portable category. You can have 3 different colours for the lid of this notebook, which is available in red, white or black. This would definitely widen its user base to include women who likes using a trendy looking notebook. It is no surprise that the majority of female notebook shoppers tend to go for the looks of a notebook first before even looking at the specs.

The design is very nice in its entirety, although if you want to be picky, the touchpad could be larger for easier usage, especially if you got big fingers. Also, there are only 2 USB ports, sufficient for many people, unless you plan to attach more than 2 USB devices at a single time. This point aside, this is a rather highly equipped notebook. The beauty of buying from Dell is that, there is always a high level of choice when it comes to customization - getting what you want, instead of settling for what the manufacturers want to give you.

Just take a look at the following options, and you will get excited about getting what you wish for:

Processors

Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor T7500 (2.20GHz, 4M L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor T7300 (2GHz, 4M L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor T7100 (1.80GHz, 2M L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor T5250 (1.50GHz, 2M L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB)

Operating System

Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate
Genuine Windows Vista® Business
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic

Memory

Up to 4GB shared4 Dual Channel 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM provides blazing performance.

DDR2 dual channel5 memory offers excellent performance and bandwidth. This memory architecture is designed to help to improve overall system performance and help reduce power consumption. As demands from processors, graphics and networking increase, DDR2 is the standard in notebook memory.

Graphics

Intel Graphic Media Accelerator X3100

NVIDIA GeForceTM Go 8400M GS with 128MB dedicated GDDR3 graphics memory

Screen

Optional:
13.3" UltraSharpTM WXGA display with TrueLifeTM
2.0 MP camera (standard CCFL display)

13.3" UltraSharpTM WXGA display with TrueLifeTM
0.3 MP camera (optional WLED slim & light display)

Hard Drives

Up to 160GB6 configured with 5400 RPM SATA hard drive.

Optical Storage

Integrated Slot-Load DVD+/-RW Drive7

Weight & Dimensions

Weight: Starting at 1.79 kg
Width: 31.8cm
Height: 2.21cm – 3.38cm
Depth: 23.8cm

I/O Ports

2 USB 2.0 compliant 4-pin connectors
IEEE 1394a
RJ45 Ethernet port (10/100)
External Modem via USB
Video: VGA
Video: HDMI
ExpressCard 54 mm slot
8-in-1 removable memory card reader
Audio jacks: Stereo in & headphone/speaker out (x2) dual digital array mics

Obviously, this is a very well equipped notebook, satisfying even the most avid road warrior. Performance wise, it should not disappoint either. It is pretty near the top of similarly equipped ultra-portables, and battery life on the standard 6-cell battery pack lasts for about 2.5 hours. If you are going on a long flight with this notebook, a 9-cell battery pack is advised, and carrying a spare battery would not hurt either.

HP TouchSmart PC - Videos

New generation PC from HP with touchscreen capability embracing the Vista O/S. Pretty interesting concept of a total media entertainment center. It is an all-in-one PC concept. People with space constraints should find this interesting. However, traditional expandability as in the PC norm is limited as expected. That being said, the integrated sofware driven features definitely has a "WOW Factor".

Review of Acer Aspire 5920G Notebook

The first thing you will notice about the Acer 5920G is the sheer physical size of the unit itself.

This is not a small laptop, nor is it an ultra-portable.Weighing in at almost 3kg, it is more suited as a desktop replacement. That being said, the design is a very trendy and modern one. Of course, taste is a personal thing, but most people will like it as it is unique and different from other laptops. It does stand out from the crowd. It is more of a wedge shaped laptop with curves, and it serves to break away from the traditional design of squared off and sharp edges.

This laptop brims with quality wherever you look. Some people have commented on the greysih and cream coloured interior to be ugly. Those might be the people who can't accept changes, and too afraid to break away from the norm of having a stark black laptop. Too bad for them, as the light cream coloured inside of this laptop is a much welcome change from the norm, and I think it looks great.


The one thing that you will soon realize with this laptop is the specs, and thus the value for money. For the same amount of money, you will be hard pressed to find a similar speced laptop.

It is a pretty high end machine. Let's take a look at the specs here and you will have an idea what I mean. It has the latest core 2 Duo technology with 2GB of DDR2 RAM, which ensures that you will not experience any slow down running the preloaded Vista OS. It also has a 8600M-GT dedicated graphics card with 256MB, which means it will also satisty the mobile gamer, and will run even the latest games with no issues. There is also a 160GB SATA hard drive and dual-layer DVD/RW drive which provides the primary storage options. This is really a value for money machine, considering the retail price of USD$1520. It is not in the same league in overall quality as a Sony Vaio for instance, but for the price, you are getting a lot already.