Archive for Hardware
Sep
06
Fujitsu Esprimo Mini PC Stuffs Core 2 Duo, Blu-ray Into Tiny Little Package
Posted by: | CommentsThings you could do with the Fujitsu Esprimo Mini PC if you didn’t really care all that much about the data contained inside: Play hockey, rest a cold drink on a warm day; balance a wobbly table.
You see, the Esprimo is tiny. Almost hockey puck tiny. Get it? But in that tight little form factor is a wealth of surprisingly robust features, like 4GB of memory and a 320GB hard drive for all your tiny file saving needs. Also inside is a Blu-ray optical drive and an accompanying HDMI port, which makes sense. The Core 2 Duo tops everything off.
One last caveat: All those features above are found in the “higher end” model, which is weird to type because the base model will cost a cool grand when it arrives in Germany in late September.
Aug
25
Canon ImageFORMULA DR-Series Scanners Unveiled
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Canon has just rolled out its imageFORMULA DR-2510M and DR-2010M desktop scanners, where they are the first Mac-compatible high-speed document scanners from the company. Each purchase will come bundled with Mac-compatible software, allowing one-touch scanning directly to e-mail, printers, shared network folders, as well as applications including iPhoto. Both the Canon DR-2510M and DR-2010M models are able to offer speedy color scanning, touching speeds of 25 pages-per-minute (ppm) in simplex mode and 50 images-per-minute (ipm) in duplex. Depending on your budget, the Canon imageFORMULA DR-2510M and DR-2010M desktop scanners will retail for $795 and $555, respectively.
Aug
25
BookArc Stand Turns a MacBook Into a Desktop
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Designed to accommodate a MacBook Air to a 17-inch MacBook Pro, the BookArc stand helps you to free up desk space by turning your laptop into a desktop.
The product page goes on about the benefits of running your MacBook closed when using an external display and whatnot, but the bottom line here is that it elegantly orients your laptop vertically. If you use an external display at home with your laptop and you don’t mind spending $50 on a stand, you can get one now at an Apple Store near you.
Aug
23
PCI Express 3.0 Specification Formally Delayed Until 2011
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We’ve been enjoying (or just dealing with, depending on perspective) PCI Express 2.0 since early 2007, and it now looks as if we may still be utilizing said protocol come early 2011. Way back in June of ‘08, we began to hear whispers that the next iteration of the technology would be finalized by the end of this year, but now the PCI SIG has formally delayed the release of the specification until the second quarter of 2010. What does that mean for the consumer? Try coping with the fact that you won’t see a PCIe 3.0 product until 2011. As the story goes, the delay was needed in order to “maintain backward compatibility with current PCI Express standards,” and while the technical details of all that may interest some, it’s the awfully unfortunate setback that’s most notable here. But hey, at least all those PCIe 1.0 cards that are still totally relevant will work with your next (next-next?) PC!
Aug
04
Microsoft’s Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 Includes Smart Features For Windows 7
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Its got “comfort” right in the title, so you know Microsoft has put a premium on ergonomic design with their Desktop 5000 keyboard and mouse. They have also added “smart features” specifically designed for Windows 7 users.
Updates to the Comfort Curve design include a soft-touch palm rest and low-profile quiet touch keys. As for Windows 7, users can take advantage of a time-saving feature called Taskbar Favorites that allows easy access to open programs by mapping their location to a series of hotkeys and instantly adapting to changes. It also includes Device Stage support—giving users quick access to peripheral devices and a dedicated Windows Flip button for thumbnail previews on both the mouse and keyboard.
Aug
03
Asus Cancels USB 3.0-Equipped Motherboard
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Have you been pining over that USB 3.0-equipped Asus motherboard that we showed you last week? Sure, there aren’t any peripherals that actually take advantage of the new standard, but at least you’d be prepared. At the time Asus hadn’t provided us with any pricing or availability on the board, however, now we know exactly when this baby will be shipping. That would be never.
Apparently Asus has decided to scrap the board, without really giving any reason. The only thing they mentioned was that they were working on other things. I guess maybe it is a little early to get excited about USB 3.0, but you can’t use peripherals without ports. Then again, what good are ports without peripherals? Now we’re back to the old chicken and the egg thing.
Aug
03
Fujitsu’s CELSIUS ULTRA Gaming PC Caught On Video
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It’s not exactly the most exhaustive of hands-ons, but the video after the break appears to be one of the very first looks at Fujitsu’s much-hyped CELSIUS ULTRA gaming PC which, as promised, made its debut at the big KnastLAN event in Germany this weekend. From the sound of things, however, Fujitsu still isn’t quite ready to dish out many details about the system’s specs, although it does apparently make use of a pair of unspecified overclocked NVIDIA graphics cards in an SLI configuration, and it was reportedly able to run Crysis “impressively” at a full 120 fps.Aug
01
Acer Rolls Out ASM5800, ASM3202, ASX5810 Desktop PCs
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Sure, Acer’s newly-refreshed Predator gaming rig is all well and good if you like your PCs orange and menacing, but less adventuresome folks need PCs too, and Acer’s more than happy to cater to them as well with a range of decidedly more understated offerings. New on that front is the company’s just-announced ASM5800 (pictured above) and ASM3202 models, the former of which packs your choice of Intel Core 2 Quad or AMD Phenom II X4 processors, 4GB to 8GB of RAM, 750GB or 1TB hard drives, and ATI Radeon HD 4650 or NVIDIA GeForce GT 230 graphics, while the later is an AMD-only affair with a Phenom II X4 925 processor, ATI Radeon HD3200 graphics, 2GB to 8GB of RAM, and a 640GB or 750GB hard drive. Rounding out the lot is Acer’s slightly slimmer ASX5810 Aspire X PC (pictured after the break), which offers up a Core 2 Quad Q8200 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, GeForce 120 graphics, and a bundled 20-inch LCD. No word on a release ’round here just yet, but all three will be available in Japan by next week for between 69,800 and 139,800 (or about $730 to $1,460).
