Latest Technology News and Reviwes

Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB

2009-10-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

I've used words like gargantuan and massive before to describe the capacity of a hard-disk drive, but this model blows all other examples away. Western Digital is the first drive maker to achieve 2TB in one drive. The previous top honors for capacity went to the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB drive.
This capacious internal drive provides an areal density of 400 gigabits per square inch on four 500GB platters. The drive is also part of WD's Green Power line of hard disk drives, billed as environmentally friendly drives due to their lower power consumption.
The 2TB drive came in fifth place among all drives tested--one better than its nearest-capacity competitor, Seagate's Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB. Its performance was above average and bettered that of its sibling, the Caviar Green 1TB WD10EACS, which finished ninth overall in our performance tests.
This model lagged behind our performance leaders (the Western Digital RE3 Enterprise 500GB and the WD VelociRaptor) on some results--most notably, the write-intensive disk imaging test that we perform as part of PC WorldBench 6. On other core metrics, though, the 2TB drive performed very competitively. For example, it completed our "write files and folders" test in 112 seconds and our "write large files" test in 92 seconds. On each of those tests, its results were off those of our performance leaders by a dozen seconds or less.
The 2TB drive has several WD technologies inside that the company says enable this model to achieve its balance of price and performance. StableTrac reduces vibration by securing the motor shaft at both ends, and this in turn permits accurate head tracking during read and write operations. IntelliPower, according to WD, adjusts the balance of spin speed, transfer rate, and caching algorithms for optimal balance between performance and power consumption. IntelliSeek optimizes seek speeds to enable lower power consumption, noise, and vibration. And WD's NoTouch ramp-load technology keeps the recording head from touching the disk media.

The All New Gateway LX6810-01

2009-10-11T16:49:00.001-07:00

At first glance, Gateway's LX6810-01 value PC seems to be an excellent choice priced at a reasonable $800 (as of 8/23/09). The system throws gaming to the curb, however, and while that won't matter to everybody, its failure to match the general performance of one particular PC--one that's $100 cheaper--might make anyone pause.
A single 650GB hard drive is the LX6810-01's sole storage offering, above-average capacity for a budget PC. As for horsepower, on paper the machine's 2.33GHz Core 2 Quad Q8200 CPU, alongside 8GB of DDR2-800 memory, looks like it would fall behind faster-clocked rivals on PC World's general benchmarks. But whether it's due to hardware differences in the motherboards and graphics cards, to updated drivers, or to fancier firmware, the LX6810-01 actually put up a fair showing against rivals such as the $1100 HP Pavilion Elite m9550f and its 2.5GHz Core 2 Quad 9300 CPU. Similarly, the LX6810-01 dished out benchmark scores so close to those of the $1449 Dell XPS 625 (which has a 3.0GHz Phenom II X4 940 CPU) that they're identical for all practical purposes.
While the aforementioned HP and Dell machines received scores of 107 and 109, respectively, on our WorldBench 6 benchmark, the LX6810-01 earned a mark of 105--a great score for the Gateway when you factor price into the equation. But to shine in both performance and price, something in a system has to give, and in this case it's the graphics. The included nVidia GeForce GT120 video card produced unplayable frame rates on our standard suite of game tests, including our runs through Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and Unreal Tournament 3 (at 2560 by 1600 resolution and the high-quality setting). When we dialed back the resolution, the PC unsurprisingly delivered better performance, but nothing nearly as playable as the frame rates we've seen from some machines on our Top 10 Value PCs chart; in some cases the gap between this system and its competitors was 40 frames per second or more. The most eye-opening difference: The Micro Express MicroFlex 82B outperformed the LX6810-01 in both our general benchmark and our gaming measurements--and it undercuts the Gateway's price by a cool $100.
The LX6810-01 comes with a good amount of connectivity for a value PC, but it has no superhigh-speed ports for external devices or advanced connectivity for displays. The rear of the machine supports up to four USB devices and one FireWire 400 device, as well as gigabit ethernet and integrated 7.1 surround sound. A 15-in-1 media card reader joins two USB ports and a single FireWire 400 port on the system's front. They're swell offerings, but nothing that differentiates the LX6810-01 from the norm. Some kind of next-generation connection would have helped.

2009-10-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

Toshiba, let me officially welcome you to the CULV party. Today, the company unveils its not-quite-netbooks T100 line. But get this, the baseline models (the T115) in this notebook series start selling at $449. That's right, this thing is about 50 bucks more than Toshiba's chart-busting netbook, the NB205-310. Toshiba opted to send us the much higher-end T135-S1310WH--a laptop that will sell for $710 when it launches with Windows 7 on October 22. And you know what? Compared with machines like Acer's Timeline, MSI's X340, and the Asus UL30A, the T135 makes a promising showing among like company.
It's similarly slim and sleek (weighing 3.8 pounds and measuring about an inch thick), but before we dig into its guts, keep in mind that we haven't had time yet to run this ultraportable through its proper paces in WorldBench 6. Also, a bit of fair warning: Our T135 test unit arrived with Windows 7 Home Premium. So, you might see a slight performance difference from the competition. All other laptops tested as of late have run through WorldBench with the "ever-efficient" Windows Vista.
All right, let's get down to brass tacks. Intel's 1.3-GHz SU4100 processor is backed by 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive (the RAM and hard drive can be upgraded by removing the covers underneath). And, like many Toshiba machines, this unit has an impact sensor to keep the drive from going completely screwy if you drop your laptop. Spokespeople say that the 6-cell battery will provide 9 hours of running time,
The crisp 13.3-inch screen runs at an HD-ready 1366-by-768-pixel resolution, handling video whether streamed over Hulu or installed directly on the hard drive. Its 720p footage ran without a hitch or stutter. As for screen quality: With the brightness jacked all the way, this thing is a backlit LED beacon. Colors looked vivid and rich in still images, but appeared a little ashy in darker video playback, and black shadows seemed slightly washed out. But that's just the word of a cranky videophile. Tinker with the video settings, and you'll probably have little to gripe about.
In fact, almost my only complaint about this laptop is a minor beef with the keyboard and the mouse setup. The keys themselves feel comfortable in that flat, wide-button-layout sort of way, though shrinking the real estate around the keyboard would have allowed for slightly larger function and other special keys like and . What was noticable: A slight bit of flex in the keyboard. The left side seems to sink a little bit if you exert a modicum of pressure. And then there's the touchpad. The actual strike zone is textured nicely--it's a rougher finishing than the glossy plastic framing most of the case. And I'll give the T135 points for at least offering a multitouch pad for simple functions like zooming in and out of images and documents.

iPod Nano 5th Generation (16GB) Audio Player

2009-10-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

The fifth-gen iPod Nano is almost impossibly slim, but somehow the wizards at Apple managed to pack in a video camera. Though you'll find a few other new features in the fifth-generation Nano, the video camera is the marquee addition. Considering how much space your home-video clips might take up, it's unfortunate that Apple didn't boost the Nano's storage capacity this generation.
The brand-new Nano has the same measurements as its predecessor (3.6 by 1.5 by 0.24 inches, 1.3 ounces) but offers a larger, 2.2-inch display (up from 2 inches). It comes in a rainbow of colors, encased in slick-looking, polished anodized aluminum. The new finish is attractive, but it is definitely a magnet for smudges and fingerprints. And while I didn't perform any torture tests on the Nano, I can tell that it is susceptible to scratches, like most iPod models. That factor, combined with the positioning of the video camera lens on the back of the device, means you'll definitely want to invest in a case.
Among the Nano's new features are an FM radio tuner (at last!), VoiceOver (which announces song information in a somewhat creepy synthetic voice), and a pedometer. The FM radio is simple to use and has impressive audio quality. It supports Radio Data System (RDS) information, which means you can view song details and tag tracks for purchase in the iTunes store. You can also pause a station for up to 15 minutes and then play it back--the feature is sort of like a DVR for radio, which is handy. Though the FM radio isn't particularly innovative (we saw this feature on the first-gen Zune), the ability to pause and play radio is cool, and it works well.
Thanks to its integration with iTunes, the fifth-gen Nano has unbeatable audio and video features. Genius Mixes, one new feature in iTunes 9, generate directly on the Nano when you sync from iTunes. The Genius Mixes group your music according to a common characteristic, such as genre, style, or similar artist. In my hands-on use, Genius did a pretty good job of matching up similar songs. (I'll stick to my own mixes, however.) Audio sounded clean through the included earbuds, but you'll likely want to upgrade to a higher-quality pair; like the previous model's earbuds, this set produced somewhat tinny sound. In the PC World Test Center's audio-quality tests, the fifth-gen iPod Nano scored similarly to its predecessor and received a rating of Superior.

The All New Nokia 6600i Slide

2009-10-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

A while back Nokia released the 6600 pair - the slide and the fold - which we fell for, big time. The seemingly more popular sibling got an update and the 6600i slide will keep on cashing in. Slightly revamped, it brings a beefier camera and a new paintjob to boot.
Looks have changed just a bit and we honestly think they did it right. The consciously minimalist design of the original didn't leave much room for frills anyway. Alright, the 6600i slide is a no-frills package overall, but don't go saying we didn't warn you. It's enjoyable and addictive.
Key features:
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, dual-band UMTS
2.2" 16M-color QVGA display
5 megapixel camera, autofocus and LED flash
VGA video recording at 15fps
S40 user interface, 5th edition
Bluetooth (with A2DP)
Stereo FM radio with RDS
microSD card slot (up to 16 GB), 1GB included
Ovi Maps for S40 come preinstalled
Ovi Contacts, Share on Ovi, YouTube, MySpace and Facebook applications preinstalled
Really compact and extra smooth metal body
Sweet oval shapes and neat slider design
Accelerometer for tap-for-time and tap-to-mute
No need to tell you, the "i" in any Nokia model designation is there to save face. It's like Nokia saying: here's a phone that sells big, so be our guest - keep on buying it. It's more of a relaunch than an update. And we're not pointing fingers here - if you have a massive seller the first thing on your mind would be to keep it rolling.

The Casio Exilim EX-FH20 megazoom digital camera

2009-10-10T20:11:00.000-07:00

The Casio Exilim EX-FH20 megazoom digital camera looks and feels like a small, entry-level SLR, with its oversize 20X-optical-zoom lens, pop-up fill flash, and big, beefy right-handed grip. But the camera is as easy to use as a point-and-shoot--and a lot more versatile, thanks to its high-speed shooting modes. It's a follow-up to last year's innovative Casio Exilim EX-F1, and a big sibling to the pocketable, high-speed Casio Exilim EX-FC100.
The mode dial has only five settings: Flash CS (consecutive shots with flash), High-Speed CS (according to Casio, this mode will continue to shoot as long as you press the shutter button), Single Shot, HS for high-speed movies, and HD/STD for normal-speed movies at 1280-by-720-pixel or 640-by-480-pixel resolution, both at 30 frames per second.
When the camera is in any of the still-photo modes, you can press the BS (Best Shot) button on the back of the camera and select any of 18 presets, including standards such as Portrait, Sports, and High Speed Night Scene. A few of the preset modes--such as Multi-motion Image (which lets you shoot multiple images of a scene that the camera then combines into a single image) or Digital Panning (which combines multiple images into one picture where the subject is in focus and the background is motion-blurred)--let you have a little fun.
You can also set the camera for aperture priority, shutter-speed priority, manual, or automatic. The ISO range is from 100 to 1600, and you can adjust the white balance and image brightness, as well. You can easily navigate all of the controls by pressing the directional button and the Set button on the back of the camera with your right thumb. The Menu button on the back lets you access other camera settings.
The Exilim EX-FH20's 3-inch color LCD looks nice, though I did have trouble seeing it in very bright sunlight. In such instances you can use the camera's electronic viewfinder, a small LCD that produces flatter and fuzzier colors than the 3-inch LCD. Switching between the electronic viewfinder and the 3-inch LCD is as easy as pushing a button. When you're using the electronic viewfinder, however, you're dedicated to it--while switching presets, you have to peer through the electronic viewfinder to navigate the screens. The camera doesn't switch to the 3-inch LCD when you're adjusting the camera and then back to the electronic viewfinder when you're done and ready to shoot, which can hamper your efforts if you're trying to adjust the camera quickl

The Charming Samsung W880

2009-10-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

The Samsung W880 ups the ante with a world's first 12 megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom. Featuring a hardware Mode dial and a real zoom lever it does feel like a real camera and you may find yourself struggling to find the mobile phone under the digicam skin. Now while W880 is South Korea bound only, it's enough to give us a taste of what's coming in the shape of the rumored Samsung M8920, which should make it our way sometime next year - but with Wi-Fi and GPS on board.
Designing a mobile phone (or any other portable gadget for that matter) is a balancing act - the engineers must juggle between cost, size and features, all the while being limited by the current state of technology.
Say cost doesn't matter - that still leaves only so much that can reasonably be crammed into a mobile device. Progress is made, technology advances, which results in things getting cheaper, smaller and with more features. And quite soon, things that seemed impractical a few years back can now be released as a consumer device.
This is how the Samsung W880 AMOLED 12M came to be - it contains all the mechanical elements of a point-and-shoot camera, but still has enough room left for the phone parts. It's not the first phone to achieve that but it's the first 12-megapixel one and the added 3x optical zoom and xenon flash pretty much put it on par with a typical point-and-shoot camera.
The Samsung W880 has some high-end imaging functions too - tracking touch autofocus, 720p@30 fps video recording, 3.3" big AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with WVGA resolution. That's not something you see every day on a cameras and it's top notch in mobile phone terms. Even the degree of control over how a photo is taken beats out consumer cameras, let alone cameraphones.
Now, keep in mind that the we're previewing a prototype here and it's a prototype of a phone meant for the South Korean market only and although it has tri-band GSM and support for UMTS, those are meant for roaming only - the AMOLED 12M is for South Korea and South Korea only.
So, why bother with a preview then? Well, there's a global version coming in the beginning of next year and that might actually land in a store near you. It will look just the same but will drop the T-DMB TV receiver, which has little use outside of South Korea anyway, swapping it for the more practical Wi-Fi and GPS. Supposedly, the global GSM version will be allegedly called Samsung M8920, but that has yet to be confirmed by an official source.

The All new Photosmart C4780

2009-10-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

The Photosmart C4780 offers a few extras and admirable support for its low price ($130 at this writing). Connectivity includes Wi-Fi and USB, plus two media slots for MS, SD, and xD cards. The 1.45-inch color touchscreen is very easy to use, as is HP‘s onscreen Solution Center software, which centralizes printer settings, status, and other utilities. Its Help section offers much more useful support information (including animations) than the anemic HTML-based user guide.

The unit's performance was adequate in our tests. Print speeds were average overall: 7.6 pages per minute for plain-text pages, 2.5 ppm for graphics. Text was dark charcoal rather than black, but looked very crisp even in small-point and ornate fonts. Other colors in our test printouts tended to be slightly oversaturated yet still looked natural. There was some visible banding in large areas of continuous color. Scan speeds were dismally slow; however the images showed accurate, if slightly pixelated, colors, and precise lines.

The Photosmart C4780's paper handling is adequate for light use, but it's a klunky design. The thick, plastic 80-sheet input tray drops open from the front of the printer; a sturdy plastic extension folds out to accommodate legal-size paper. Printed or copied output (up to 15 sheets) falls right on top of the input stack, which looks and feels awkward. Automatic duplexing is not available, but the driver will walk you through the steps manually.

Replacement inks for the C4780 were among the most expensive on the market at the time of this review. A 600-page, high-yield black cartridge costs $35, or 5.8 cents a page for black output. A 440-page, high-yield tricolor cartridge costs $42, or 9.3 cents a page. A graphics page using all four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) costs 15.1 cents a page. Standard cartridges aren't worth considering unless you print or copy only occasionally, as the cost per page is 7.5 cents for black and 19.6 cents for four-color cartridges, respectively.

Microsoft Planning 128-Bit Version Of Windows 8

2009-10-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

yet and rumors are already circulating about the next version of Microsoft's OS, Windows 8.

According to Microsoft employee Robert Morgan, future iterations of Windows, including Windows 8, could support a 128-bit architecture. Two weeks ago his now defunct LinkedIn profile disclosed that he had been working on "research and development projects including 128-bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 kernel and Windows 9 project plan".

Further to this, Morgan's profile also let slip that Microsoft are hoping to form a number of future relationships with major players such as IBM, Intel, AMD and others in the run up to 128-bit support. (Keep in mind that 64-bit computing is just now going mainstream.)

An interview with Robert Morgan, who has been with the company since 2002, is expected to appear on Windows 8 News within the coming days, hopefully shedding more light on what to expect from the next version of Windows, codenamed Chirdori.

So while we wait to learn more on the future of Windows, be sure to check our our coverage on Microsoft's latest effort, Windows 7.

Sony Unveils Vaio X, Vaio CW Laptops

2009-10-09T16:20:00.001-07:00

The Sony Vaio X is sure to turn heads, with its carbon fiber body weighing in at 1.6 pounds. At only 0.55-inches thick, the new Vaio X is a little bit thinner than the recently announced Dell Latitude Z, and a lot lighter than most ultra-slim notebooks.
You will have to make some trade offs for the Vaio X's sleek chassis, though, starting with its puny 11.1-inch LED backlit screen with 1366 x 768 resolution. By comparison, the MacBook Air has a 13.3-inch diagonal screen and the Dell Latitude Z sports a whopping 16-inch display. As for the processor, Sony will only say it's a 2.0 GHz Intel chip. Early speculation said the Vaio X would come with an Atom processor, which would make the Vaio X's processor the Atom Z550, but that is only speculation.
The Vaio X ships with Windows 7, 2GB DDR2 RAM, 64GB solid-state drive, multi-touch trackpad, Memory Stick Duo and SD card slots, GPS (works in the U.S. and Canada only), Ethernet, Wi-Fi (802.11n) and Bluetooth connectivity, 2 X USB 2.0 ports, and MOTION EYE Webcam. The Vaio X also comes with built-in 3G capability, which requires a Verizon wireless broadband subscription. Available colors include black and gold. The Vaio X's body is made of carbon fiber, but the top case around the trackpad and keyboard is aluminum.
Sony Vaio X pricing starts at $1300, which is much lower than Sony's claim last month that they Vaio X would be priced under $2000. The Vaio X will start shipping in November and can be found on Sonystyle.com right now.

CW Series
For something a little cheaper you can try the Sony Vaio CW on for size. This laptop runs Windows 7, and features an optional Blu-ray drive, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, NVIDIA GeForce dedicated graphics card, 320GB hard drive and HDMI out, which Sony says will allow you to playback high-definition content on your big screen TV. Available colors include fiery red, poppy pink, icy white, jet black and indigo purple.
The Vaio CW series starts at $780, but looking around on Sony's Website, the cheapest version I could find of the model described above started at $800. The CW Series will be available at the end of this month, likely after the Windows 7 launch on October 22.