Saturday, June 13, 2009
AMD may have convinced HP to slap their new Congo into the updated dv2 ultraportable, but if you’ve been waiting to hear a little more about the dual-core chipset then we’ve some more detail for you. Targeted at thin-and-light notebooks rather than taking on Intel’s Atom N-series chips, Congo is a combination of the new dual-core AMD Neo processor, updated ATI graphics and an improved chipset.
The chipset is the M780G, while the graphics side of things is handled by the ATI Radeon HD 3200 IGP. That pairing brings with it HDMI, DisplayPort and eSATA connectivity, plus HD video hardware decoding and DirectX 10 for gaming.
There’s also support for hybrid graphics setups, where the Congo system is augmented with a selectable higher-spec GPU for more hardware-intensive applications. That’s an approach which has served NVIDIA well in the case of the GeForce 9400M/9600M offering available across many of Apple’s MacBook and MacBook Pro models. AMD expects Congo to arrive later in 2009, with system prices ranging from around $499 upward.
The chipset is the M780G, while the graphics side of things is handled by the ATI Radeon HD 3200 IGP. That pairing brings with it HDMI, DisplayPort and eSATA connectivity, plus HD video hardware decoding and DirectX 10 for gaming.
There’s also support for hybrid graphics setups, where the Congo system is augmented with a selectable higher-spec GPU for more hardware-intensive applications. That’s an approach which has served NVIDIA well in the case of the GeForce 9400M/9600M offering available across many of Apple’s MacBook and MacBook Pro models. AMD expects Congo to arrive later in 2009, with system prices ranging from around $499 upward.
Friday, June 12, 2009
MSI’s X-Slim range is about to get a new screen option, in the shape of the 15.6-inch X600. Notebook Italia have unboxed the biggest X-Slim in advance of its late-June European launch, finding a laptop that may not be as portable as its smaller siblings, but which is perhaps all the more usable.
The X600 might have a full keyboard and separate numeric keypad, but it also comes in at just 25mm thick. Inside there’s up to 4GB of RAM, up to 500GB hard-drive, a choice of processors from Intel’s CULV range (topping out at the 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo SU3500) and ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4330 graphics with 512MB video memory.
There’s also a 6-cell battery, four speakers, VGA, HDMI, three USB, ethernet and audio in/out connectivity, WiFi a/b/g/n and, model depending, Bluetooth. The 720p-capable display runs at 1366 x 768. When it arrives in Italy later this month, the MSI X-Slim X600 will be priced between €799 ($1,123) and €949 ($1,334). Full details of the four models available at launch after the unboxing video.
The X600 might have a full keyboard and separate numeric keypad, but it also comes in at just 25mm thick. Inside there’s up to 4GB of RAM, up to 500GB hard-drive, a choice of processors from Intel’s CULV range (topping out at the 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo SU3500) and ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4330 graphics with 512MB video memory.There’s also a 6-cell battery, four speakers, VGA, HDMI, three USB, ethernet and audio in/out connectivity, WiFi a/b/g/n and, model depending, Bluetooth. The 720p-capable display runs at 1366 x 768. When it arrives in Italy later this month, the MSI X-Slim X600 will be priced between €799 ($1,123) and €949 ($1,334). Full details of the four models available at launch after the unboxing video.
Chuwi’s W3000 still looks unlikely to arrive on US or European shelves any time soon, but that hasn’t dulled the enthusiasm of the guys over at MP4 Nation. They’ve been putting the 4.1-inch touchscreen PMP through its paces, and finding that in contrast to the SmartQ 5, the W3000 actually does a good job both as a media player and as an internet device.
Chuwi have modified the standard Windows CE version of Internet Explorer, and it apparently renders sites far better than the normal build. However there’s still no Flash support, which means video sites like YouTube and Hulu are no-go areas. Instead, you’ll be looking to play FLV, RMVP, MP4 and AVI video on the PMP, and happily it’s all reportedly smooth and has a handy TV output for larger-screen entertainment.
Unfortunately, despite being Windows CE based the W3000 proved unhappy with the GAPI gaming/application API, which limits its software flexibility. Still, out of the box there’s WiFi support, a microSD card slot, USB host port and a decent media player front-end. It remains to be seen whether Chuwi develop a version of the W3000 for export - right now it only has a Chinese version of CE running - but if they do, expect it to come in at under $170 for the 8GB and under $140 for the 2GB model.
Chuwi have modified the standard Windows CE version of Internet Explorer, and it apparently renders sites far better than the normal build. However there’s still no Flash support, which means video sites like YouTube and Hulu are no-go areas. Instead, you’ll be looking to play FLV, RMVP, MP4 and AVI video on the PMP, and happily it’s all reportedly smooth and has a handy TV output for larger-screen entertainment.Unfortunately, despite being Windows CE based the W3000 proved unhappy with the GAPI gaming/application API, which limits its software flexibility. Still, out of the box there’s WiFi support, a microSD card slot, USB host port and a decent media player front-end. It remains to be seen whether Chuwi develop a version of the W3000 for export - right now it only has a Chinese version of CE running - but if they do, expect it to come in at under $170 for the 8GB and under $140 for the 2GB model.
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