iTech4: Desktops

Swedish museum puts Pirate Bay server on display

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 16th 2009 at 3:46PM

The Pirate Bay itself may now be entangled in a high-profile court battle, but it looks like Sweden'sNational Museum of Science and Technology figured that was the perfect time to grab a piece of the site's controversial history and put it on display. While it may not look like much, that server above is in fact one of the original servers that was used by the Pirate Bay and confiscated by the police in January, 2008. Despite that storied past, however, the museum was apparently able to acquire the server for just2,000 kronor (or about $240), and it's now found a home alongside a 1970s-era cassette tape recorder in an exhibit that's intended to "stimulate interest in finding out more about the area of intellectual property rights" -- which, unfortunately, is not called "Steal this Exhibit."

[Via The Register]

Psystar Open(3) manages to ship, gets unboxed by lucky customer

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 16th 2009 at 1:29PM

Take a good look at the box above, folks -- it just might be the first, the last and the only Open(3) you ever see. Psystar's latest Mac clone, which was launched right around a month ago, has miraculously managed to ship out (or, at least one has). If you'll recall, the company has been battling with Apple for months on end for selling OS X-equipped machines without Cupertino's blessing, but apparently it's still doing at least a bit of business under the table. Hit up the read link for a Flickr gallery full of this here slap in the face. It's good stuff, trust us.

[Thanks, Mike]

Acer AspireRevo: the Ion-infused unboxing

by Paul Miller, posted Apr 16th 2009 at 11:41AM

We just tore the packaging off of Acer's new AspireRevo nettop and dove into its Ion-powered goodness. The computer is in many ways a product of NVIDIA's designs, since the Ion-powered nettop reference platform has been a part of the Ion ecosystem for a while, and this Revo apple doesn't fall from the NVIDIA tree. Still, Acer had to go ahead and build the thing, and it's a pretty great package all-in-all. We're still in the preliminaries -- the HDMI didn't work out of the gate, but after swapping back and forth a few times with the VGA plug we were in business -- and we're playing with a potentially buggy "engineering sample," but hopefully we'll be able to pull together some cohesive impressions on the thing, and play a bit of Spore while we're at it. It's already obviously the fastest Atom-powered device we've played with, and while it still pretty much chokes on Hulu and that whole "multitasking" concept, we're pretty pleased so far.

Gallery: Acer Apire Revo: the Ion-infused unboxing

Lenovo and Acer rumored to be prepping new all-in-one PCs

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 15th 2009 at 8:42AM

In recent months, we've seen both Lenovo and Acer push out rather stylish all-in-one PCs. Clearly, both firms are hot to trot for the form factor, with DigiTimes reporting that the duo has big plans for future expansion in the area. Specifically, Lenovo is rumored to launch an entry-level 20-inch unit (C300) next month, a C100 and quad-core B500 in August and an ultrathin A300 variant in October. Meanwhile, Acer is said to be preparing an 18.5-inch model produced by Wistron, though there's no indication if it's actually different from that eMachines EZ1600 we heard about earlier this month. Look out, tower -- the end is nigh. (Just kidding, we only wanted to see your reaction.)

Windows XP transitions out of Mainstream Support phase

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 14th 2009 at 1:47PM

It may only be a footnote in the long history of Windows XP, but Microsoft has confirmed today that, as planned, the venerable OS has finally and officially transitioned from the Mainstream Support phase to the Extended Support phase. This, of course, follows a number of extensions to the Mainstream Support phase (which normally only lasts five years), although most users likely won't notice much of a difference as XP moves into this new, more wistful period of life, as they'll still be getting regular security updates and occasional hotfixes (depending on their support plan) all the way until April 8th, 2014 -- or who knows how much longer if the demand is there.

Acer Aspire Revo listed for pre-order in UK with May 18th release date

by Ross Miller, posted Apr 13th 2009 at 11:22PM

Now that the Ion-based cat is out of the bag, Acer's Aspire Revo has reared its pretty head on UK retailer Play.com's website. While all four packages sport the 1.6GHz Intel Atom N230, from what we can tell there's two distinct hardware configurations here. The base price is £180 (US $267), and with that you'll get 1GB RAM, 8GB SSD, and Linux. The £300 model boasts 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, and Windows Vista Home Premium. Tack on £50 more for a 3D controller and ten games, and for £330 ($440) you can have the full package along with a wireless keyboard / mouse. The listed release date is May 18th for all of them, and with any luck Acer'll go with that date and bring the nettop stateside sometime around then.

AOpen rolls out XC Encore OE700 media PC

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 13th 2009 at 3:49PM

It's been a little while since AOpen last popped up on our radar, but the company certainly hasn't stopped cranking out tiny media PCs in the interim, and it looks like it might have a winner on its hands with its new XC Encore OE700 model. While the core specs of your choice of Core 2 Duo processor and up to 4GB RAM aren't exactly anything remarkable, the system does employ a number of measures to ensure it stays as quiet as possible, including a Smart Anti-Vibration System that dampens hard drive noise, and a new case design dubbed SNSS (or Smart Noise Suppression System) that promises to keep all the other noises in check. You'll even get a home theater-friendly VFD display and, of course, a Media Center compatible remote control -- assuming you live in Japan, that is, as there's still no indication of a release 'round these parts.

[Via Electronista]

Poor Mans Netbook sees more potent successor, created a monster

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 13th 2009 at 8:29AM

Do you know what the new hotness is? We'll tell you -- computers in suitcases. Big, brawny, rugged suitcases. After seeing the Poor Mans Netbook offered up to the least poor bidder on eBay, one Daniel Spalding has concocted a more powerful successor dubbed the Poor Mans Notebook. Within the near-bulletproof suitcase, he managed to shove an 8-inch touchscreen (1,024 x 768 resolution), 2.5GHz dual-core E5200 CPU, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, 64GB OCZ solid state drive, WiFi / Bluetooth 2.1+EDR modules and a GeForce 7100 graphics set. He won't deny that it purrs like a vacuum cleaner when really taxed, but c'mon, it's a computer in a suitcase -- cut the thing some slack.

Intel applies "stars" ratings to processors, processors lose self-esteem

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 10th 2009 at 3:14PM

It looks like those confused by the multitude of Intel processors out there needn't linger in indecision any longer, as Intel itself has now come up with a new scheme that it hopes will help simplify the buying process significantly. As you can see above, that consists of a new rating system that gives processors between one and five stars, which Intel says indicates "relative performance, not a price-performance type of thing." As you might expect, the five-star rating is reserved for the like of the Core i7 and Core i7 Extreme, with the one-star ranks apparently occupied solely by various Celeron processors -- the Atom, it seems, is in a class all its own. Somewhat less notably, Intel has also taken the opportunity to roll out some spruced processor logos, which should already be showing themselves in stores along with displays featuring the new star rating system.

[Thanks, Simon B]

MCE's 8x internal Blu-ray burner for Mac Pros now shipping, great for anything but playing Blu-ray movies

by Ross Miller, posted Apr 10th 2009 at 2:23AM

Here's some perspective: when MCE first released its internal Mac Pro Blu-ray burner, it boasted 2X speeds for a hefty $699 price tag. Cut to present day, when the new generation of the drive that's a noticeably faster 8X Blu-ray read / write and 16X DVD±R/W, all for a hair under $400. Works with Adobe Premier Pro, Final Cut Pro and Roxio Toast 10 Pro ... but if you want to play studio Blu-ray movies, you'll have to either dual boot Windows or wait until some indeterminant time when Apple adds BD support for OS X. Them's the breaks.

[Via Macworld]

Dell adds liquid cooling option to XPS 625, 630

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 9th 2009 at 3:26PM

Dell's XPS 625 and XPS 630 gaming desktops may be known for one of the best price-to-performanceratios around, but it looks like Dell isn't ignoring those primarily concerned with performance, and it's now added a liquid cooling option to both models that should please the overclockers out there. That comes in the form of an Asetek liquid cooling system, which should be considerably more quiet than the standard fan-based system, while also keeping the system nice and chilly. Just be prepared to shell out an extra $120 on top of the $899 and $1,099 base price for the 625 and 630, respectively, and wait until late this month for the liquid-cooled systems to actually ship.

Wall-E case mod is chock full of adorableness, win

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 8th 2009 at 11:12PM

Just look into those cute, bubbly eyes and tell us that you'd still rather keep your plain-jane tower if offered this instead. We know, you can't. While we've seen a number of Wall-E mods over the months, we've never seen anything close to this in terms of sheer incredibleness. So far as we can tell, this robotic PC even opens up his own optical drive, and he can also send out love letters to one "Eeeevvvaaaaa" without human intervention. A thing of beauty, no?

[Thanks, Doug]

eMachines EZ1600, Acer Aspire Z5600 and mysterious Gateway all-in-ones in the flesh

by Paul Miller, posted Apr 8th 2009 at 1:59PM

We got a quick look at the new all-in-ones from Acer, and they're surprisingly diverse. The eMachines EZ1600 looks incredibly plastic, and almost perfect as a second computer for the kids; the Acer Aspire Z5600 classes up the joint, but might be a bit too staid in the design department; and an unnamed multitouch Windows 7 Gateway (pictured) for the "high end" of things seemed great outside of its incredibly buggy pre-release multitouch driver. Check 'em all out in the gallery below.

Gallery: eMachines EZ1600, Acer Aspire Z5600 and mysterious Gateway all-in-ones in the flesh

Dell demos multitouch on the Studio One 19

by Paul Miller, posted Apr 8th 2009 at 1:37PM

Dell's new all-in-one Studio One 19 is due to start shipping soon, and it's packing some interesting new multitouch capabilities which Dell has been kind enough to demo briefly on video. There's a new touchable launch bar, which give access to Dell's own touch-friendly apps (see the second video after the break), though Dell's Josh Duncan (video one) made sure to reiterate that gestures should carry over to non touch specific apps -- which pretty much means Internet Explorer, from what we can tell. Our own experience with Windows 7 multitouch was none too impressive, and Vista's built-in single touch stuff is even worse, so hopefully Dell's not just paying lip service to making multitouch a real OS-wide phenomenon. The touch-specific apps like a photo browser and paint app are cute and gimmicky, but at least seem to match HP's TouchSmart for the most part -- plus some multitouch enhancements. What is perhaps the Studio One's biggest boon to touchability doesn't even have a thing to do with the screen or software: it tilts back on the stand, giving you a better angle to work with. Check out both videos after the break.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Continue reading Dell demos multitouch on the Studio One 19

Video: Bumptop gives Windows 7 touchscreen PCs purpose

by Thomas Ricker, posted Apr 8th 2009 at 2:07AM

Bumptop has been around as a video concept for a few years. Now this amazing desktop organizer with a physics engine underpinning the UI is available for download (PC only). The software allows you to bump and toss weighted objects across the desktop and organize them into folders or piles the way you would on your real-world desk. It also includes the ability to pan and zoom on images with all the gesture support you'd expect. While a touchscreen (multi-touch supported when Windows 7 ships) display provides a more natural interface, Bumptop also works with a mouse. Check the video after the break -- then hit up the download link below which we suspect you'll be frantically searching for after the video ends. Granted, we don't want to spend our days with arms outstretched at "work" in front of atouchsceen PC anymore than you, but software like this could be useful on our lesser used, kitchen PCs.

Update: Katherine Boehret and Walt Mossberg have posted their review after playing with the wares for a few days. It's definitely "worth a try" but requires a shift from an application- to a desktop-driven approach to daily computing. Something they don't sound eager to do regardless of how "fun" Bumptop is.

Download

iTech4

Friday, April 17, 2009

Desktops