The BT-87-TP is fueled by 2AA batteries and the only time it does require a dongle is if your computer does not have an internal bluetooth radio. It’s the perfect tool for industries such as material handling, the medical field, food and beverage processing, and any other environment in which heavy duty materials are required. Unfortunately, pricing information has not yet been released.

Dr Jack Torobin, CEO of IMOVIO, says “Many consumers can’t afford the latest smart phone or mini-PC gadget, while others simply can’t use or just don’t like the existing form factors. This means that large groups of people still don’t fully utilize mobile data. These users, mainly women and teens, still want to have the ability to send email, browse the web, and update their online profiles whilst they are out and about.”

Based on Linux 2.419 OS, IMOVI’s iKIT mini-netbook will cost around $170, which is quite reasonable compared to the prices of other similar gadgets. This item is well-positioned to be a hit this holiday season with the current economic client, if the general public is ready for the non-Windows machine.  However, it could have greatly benefited from better battery life and 3G connectivity.

Costing only $37, the All-in-One Music Mouse Pad makes for an affordable, convenient solution for those that use a mouse pad and could use the added convergence features.

The brand new adapter consists of two wireless USB "dongles".  One, of course, you connect to your computer, the other you attach to the USB device.  One of the most beneficial aspects of the setup is that you can move all of your USB dependent devices, such as external hard drives, printers, CD/DVD writers, and more up to thirty feet away (onto a shelf for example) to help keep your workspace less cluttered. The downside to this is that most USB devices still require a power source, which means you’ll still have to worry about a power outlet connection. One important aspect to mention with the wireless USB dongle kit is that you don’t need to buy a dongle for each device, which would render the solution unsuitable for recommendation.  You can connect the dongle to your current USB hub and plug all your other USB devices into the hub to make it almost like a wireless router, for USB ports.

Costing anywhere from $79 to $99 the wireless USB dongle is a positive look towards the future of wireless hardware.  It’s a handy item to pick up if you’re finding yourself with a cluttered workspace. At an affordable price, the adapter may become a must-have in the future for tech enthusiasts using the latest gadgets.

Aside from that, the CyberPower Gamer Xtreme M1 comes fully loaded with an ultra clear 17" WUXGA TFT LCD display which runs at 1920×1200 pixels. Powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme processor, you won’t have to worry about slow operation, or opening too many applications with the 4GB of DDR3 that is also featured. The notebook comes with built-in dual ATI Mobile Radeon 512MB DDR2 graphics cards in a CrossfireX configuration. It also offers built-in bluetooth, a 2MP camera (webcam), and fingerprint sensor.  The laptop is presented to buyers with a pre-installed copy of Window Vista.

With Christmas around the corner, this is a great present for gaming enthusiasts. Pricing starts at  $2199, and the system is customizable.

Solid state drives do not have any moving components, and since their predecessors (hard drives) speed is measured in revolutions per minute, they needed a way to gauge the speed of an SSD. This fueled the creation of vRPM, virtual RPM. vRPM accurately and easily allows customers/consumers to compare SSDs to HDDs when used in PCs. It has been predicted that SSD net performance next year will be more than four times faster than current solid state drives and almost six times faster than the latest 2.5" HDDs.

In addition to virtual RPM, SanDisk also announced LDE, or Long-Term Data Endurance. LDE simplifies endurance as a useful number, which would be the first actual metric data of long term endurance. You can compare it to measuring tread wear on a tire. LDE represents the total amount of data writes allowed in the lifespan of a SSD. SanDisk believes other companies should take note and follow suit.

When it comes to LDE’s impact on SSD adoption, Greg Wong of Forward Insights said: "LDE provides OEMs a simple way to compare SSDs and determine, based on application usage patterns, which drives are suitable for a particular application. The beauty of LDE," he added, "is that it captures endurance in one single, understandable figure. A common metric is necessary to facilitate SSD adoption moving forward."

The U820 features a built-in GPS receiver with integrated Garmin Mobile PC software.  It also comes pre-loaded with maps of the U.S. and Canada. With millions of destinations, points of interest, route planning, and turn by turn directions, this UMPC may even be able to replace your dedicated GPS navigation device. It’s a lot lighter than the previous U810. It’s also powered by Intel’s Centrino Atom Z series processor, which provides lower power consumption for a longer battery life, fewer chips, and integrated support for 1080p HD video decoding.

Fujitsu’s U820 comes with an additional row of keys and a new keyboard layout that provides a more QWERTY experience.  High-tech security features are included as well, such as a BIOS lock, fingerprint sensor, and a Kensington lock slot to repel physical theft. The HDD is up to 120GB or a 64GB SSD. The screen resolution has been greatly improved with a WXGA display, and you have the choice whether you want to use touch or pen on the screen.  Bluetooth wireless and a 1.3 mega-pixel webcam are also provided.  The UMPC comes pre-installed with Windows Vista Business or Home Premium.

The Quadro Plex 2200 is housed in an aesthetic tower, also referred to as a dedicated desk-side visual computing system (VCS).  The breakthrough machine offers professional visual computing power that enhances image quality, facilitates dynamic product scaling, and adds to the arsenal of NVIDIA cores for SLI multi-GPU technology, which in turn enables Mosaic Mode. A Mosaic Mode configuration can use multiple Quadro GPUs on many displays, but with all working in unison as one ultra-powerful processing unit.

Specifications

Form Factor	Deskside or 3U Rackmount Kit
NVIDIA Quadro GPU	Quadro FX 5800
# NVIDIA Quadro GPUs	2 or 4
Total Frame Buffer	8 GB or 16 GB (4GB/GPU)
Display Channels	4 dual-link DVI
SLI Mosaic Mode
Shader Model	4.0
NVIDIA® CUDA™ Parallel Computing Processor
Genlock/Framelock
Frame Synchronization
FSAA (maximum)	64x
G-Sync Version	II

It has the best resolution, image quality, and display size with solutions up to 128 SLI FSAA. The system also features the Quadro G-Sync solution, which enables frame synchronization, frame lock, and gen lock to help with performance, quality, and resolution.

The Quadro Plex 2200 is built on the proven Quadro GPU architecture and has the flexibility to be combined with any certified PCI Express platform with Gen 2 support. The system can be positioned desk-side, or fit into any standard 19" rack environment.

Full pricing information is not currently available, but the unit is said to be priced in the $10,750 range.

USB monitors are usually purchased for a specific secondary monitor purpose, such as being able to check your screen content from a location other than directly in front of your main display.  The MIMO monitors are also a great way to dedicate space to applications that normally can clutter your desktop. Think of some applications that you mostly use at a glance, like an instant messenger, weather monitoring, movies or music playing, a video conference, and much more.

The monitor uses the USB connection as the power source, which therefore requires one less cable.  Starting with UM-710 model, the 700 series is around $129 dollars, which is quite affordable. Supporting an 800×480 resolution, the MIMO can be viewed in many different display modes such as mirror, extended display, and landscape or portrait mode.
 

Available in three capacities (30GB, 60GB, and 120GB), the Solid State SSDs provide sustained transfer speeds of 155MB/s read and 90 MB/s write and virtually undetectable seek times of  <0.35ms.  These characteristics combined give the Solid Series (and most other SSDs) the title of being up to 10x faster (in terms of seek time) than some of the best performing 2.5" hard drives.  Another significant benefit of the Solid Series SSDs is that they consume 50% less energy.  It is important to note that these new SSDs perform best in notebooks produced after 2006 since they are optimized for the latest mobile platforms.

Like all other solid state drives, the OCZ SSDs have absolutely no moving parts, which helps protect them from damage and improve reliability.  They feature an aesthetic and strong, yet lightweight alloy housing.  The drives provide a 1.5 million hour mean time before failure, which means you’ll almost certainly have a new hard drive before one of these fails on you.  All Solid Series SSDs come with a two-year warranty.  The OCZ Solid Series drives are priced at $89.95 (30GB), $175.95 (60GB), and $299.95 (120GB).
 

ASUS used state-of-the-art technology in the production of the N20A notebook. ASUS’s Unique Infusion Technology provides a scratch resistant exterior and helps maintain the system’s "brand new" sheen, even after prolonged use. Its additional operating system known as Express Gate enables a rapid boot up for quick access to everyday features, such as your web browser, instant messenger, music player, and more. The facial recognition system, otherwise known as SmartLogon, recognizes the users face and can logon without having to press a key. It also looks for changes in the users facial features and no matter the lighting, it can normally detect the user. Using the AuthenTec fingerprint sensor with Trueprint Technology, the ASUS N20A can accurately read anyone’s fingerprint as well.

As for the system’s actual specifications, it boasts an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Intel GMA X4500HD integrated graphics, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, up to 320GB hard drive, 1280×800 resolution display, 1.3 megapixel webcam, HDMI and VGA output ports, DVD burner, Wi-Fi connectivity, ExpressCard expansion slot, 8-in-1 memory card reader, and optional Bluetooth and 3.5G connectivity support.  The ASUS N20A ships with Windows Vista pre-installed, with prices starting from $999, and increasing depending on your configuration.

Because of the new rapid transfer rates and insubstantial latency, games and other software applications open faster and run effortlessly, which improves overall system performance.  This SSD uses the industry-standard SATA-II interface and a 2.5" form factor, which permits easy and direct user installation into the majority of mainstream notebook computers and PCs like other regular hard drives.

Transcend’s 128GB SSDs integrate error correction code or ECC to raise system integrity and help ensure highly reliable data transfers. Like most other SSDs, the Transcend drives also feature a built-in wear leveling technology that helps to guarantee a long storage lifespan and data-retention durability for persistent use. You can purchase the Transcends 2.5" solid state drives in capacities anywhere from 8GB to 128GB in SATA-II and IDE versions. All of these SSD hard drives come with global support and a two year warranty.

This is the first Qosmio X305 notebook release.  It is also the first notebook computer to use three NVIDIA GPUs in a tri-SLI configuration. The Toshiba X305-Q708 and X305-Q706 utilize the ultra-modern NVIDIA 9400M integrated GPU and a pair of separate NVIDIA 9800M GTS cards in the SLI. The three GPU setup provides customers the performance needed to run the hottest video games on the market on the highest settings possible, rivaling even most desktop PCs.

NVIDIA’s 9400M GPU is quite new and is featured in Apple’s newly renovated MacBook notebooks. Under the hood of Toshiba’s Qosmio X305-Q706 you’ll discover an Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor, 4GB of PC3-8500 RAM, and a 320GB HDD. Both the X305-Q706 and Q707 utilize a 17-inch WSXGA+ TruBright display to ensure the utmost clarity at an adjustable resolution of 1680×1050. The lower-end of the two models, the X305-Q706, retails for $1,999.

The higher end X305-Q708 model carries a designer price tag of $4,199.99. For the extra money, you’ll receive an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300 CPU and an additional 128GB SSD alongside the standard 320GB HHD. Both systems come with a four-speaker, high quality Harman Kardon stereo system and a subwoofer.  The X305-Q708 and X305-Q706 also offer ExpressCard expansion slot.

Using Turbo cache technology, both of the 9800 GTS video cards offer 512MB of GDDR3 RAM and up to 1663MB of shared graphics memory. The system is fueled by a 3200 mAh lithium ion battery.

Both laptops are immediately available for direct purchase from Toshiba.

takeMS International’s memory kits require a minimal power drain, which helps to reduce the energy consumption of the entire CPU and also alleviate some of the stress on the memory controller. As most will know from an earlier Core i7 article, unless the BIOS setting is changed, Core i7 processors automatically clock down once a temperate/power draw/TDP threshold is reached.  Since the TakeMS memory modules run at 1.5v for energy consumption, takeMS customers may be able to overclock their computers more than those using 1.65v or higher DDR3 modules (or equal speed).

Although OCZ, Corsair, Patriot, G.Skill, Gingle, and Kingston all have released their DDR3 modules earlier than takeMS, don’t count them out of the game. The takeMS DDR3 modules are definitely a top contender in the memory module industry. takeMS focuses on high quality standards and a reasonable price to performance ratio, and the company offers a 10 year warranty on its memory modules to back it up.  The element that really makes the modules stand out, though, is the low voltage requirement, which will be quite interesting to many buyers.
 

In addition to the FX 5800’s massive RAM, it also presents up to 240 CUDA programmable parallel cores. The memory bandwidth is up to 102GB per second, the card supports interactive 4D modeling with time lapse capability, and the fill rates are above 52 billion texels per second. Furthermore, the Quadro FX 5800 features 10-bit color, with geometry performance of up to 300 million triangles per second.

Of course, the FX 5800 supports both DirectX 10 and OpenGL. It also features multi-device and multi-system virtualization as well as Quadro G-Sync 2.

The NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 is priced around $3500, position toward designers, engineers, architects, and other professionals who need top of the line graphics cards as a business component.

The Palit Revolution 700 also offers a great cooling system. For Palit to create an effective cooling system for the Revolution 700 Deluxe, they custom designed an innovative cooling solution with dual fans, one for each GPU. Arriving with two PWM fans and four heat-pipes, the Revolution 700 Deluxe comes fully equipped to fight off heat while providing the same quality high performance. Created for two GPUs, the PWM fans provide enough airflow to not only cool the two GPUs on the Revolution Deluxe, but to cool them quietly. The temperature of the GPU controls the PWMs fan speed which varies depending on how warm the processor is, which enables silent operation much of the time.

Supporting DiplayPort, HDMI, Dual-Link DVI, and D-Sub, the Palit Revolution 700 Deluxe is the first HD 4870 X2 to support 4-in-1 display outputs. One could easily make the claim that the Revolution 700 Deluxe is a giant leap forward in the graphics industry and may be the graphics solution of the future with home entertainment and gaming.
 

The Nehalem is a very power-efficient processor. Compared to earlier models, the Core i7 CPUs offer a 10-20% decrease in power consumption, quite a substantial amount.  No more than a year from now, Intel will also release the same architecture built on a 32nm, which should provide an even greater reduction in power consumption.   Nehalem also has great potential for notebooks PCs.

Initially, it was rumored that Intel had restricted the Core i7 processors in such a way that they could not be overclocked effectively due to the temperature, current power draw, and TDP evaluation of TURBO mode.  However, that did not turn out to be the case.  This limitation can simply be disabled via a motherboard BIOS option.   As for the actual overclocking, it’s a little different, but sometimes change can be a good thing.  Fortunately, the Core i7 overclocks just as well as its predecessor by increasing the BCLK (bus clock) or multiplier.

Like the Phenom, Intel’s Core i7 is sectioned into “core” and “uncore” areas. The core area includes the four processor cores and their L1 and L2 caches.  The uncore area contains the memory controller and shared L3 cache. The uncore runs at 2.66GHz for the Core i7-965 processor and 2.13GHz for the Core i7-940 and Core i7-920 processors.

As with the core clock, the uncore is set based on yield and performance targets. The uncore clock is governed by a basic multiplier of the BCLK (133MHz), which is 20x for the Core i7-965 and 16x for the Core i7-940 and Core i7-920. The uncore also uses a dedicated voltage (1.20V), which does not scale up/down.

Nehelam introduces many changes at once, including a static CMOS design, new power gate transistors, QPI, an integrated memory controller, Hyper Threading, and a couple other features and architectural tweaks. The only request we could ask would be 95W and 65W Nehalems to make this processor truly irresistible for everyone!

The technology industry and enthusiasts alike are buzzing about the soon-to-be-released Core i7 CPUs from Intel.  Discussions are abundant for questions like “should I upgrade my computer?”  After all, the Intel Core i7 processors promise unparalleled efficiency and performance.

Mostly, enthusiasts are dying to find out how well their applications and benchmarks run on this next generation technology. Having a new generation CPU also means that other parts of the computer (i.e. the motherboard and RAM) also have to be upgraded.  Already, motherboard and memory manufacturers have announced X58 motherboard and triple channel DDR3 memory kits that are compatible with Intel Core i7 processors.

Fortunately, enthusiasts do not have to speculate any longer. Intel has sent pre-release samples of the entire Core i7 systems to respected technology websites for review. State of the art applications are used to run tests on the performance of a Core i7 system. The results are rather exciting, as you will soon see.

Intel Core i7 CPU

The code name for the Intel Core i7 is Nehalem. The primary goal of the Nehalem technology is scalability. Intel engineers have taken great pains to design the Intel Core i7 processors for scalability and ensure that the processors dynamically manage many of the core functions, such as cache, threads, and interfaces. In other words, you can expect to see different versions of the Core i7 processor for different types of computers. For example, there will be one version for laptops, a version for servers, another for personal desktops, and so on. This is done to enable various price points, performance, etc. for the needs of different users and requirements, and facilitate the utilization of processing power most efficiently.

The Nehalem micro architecture includes many prominent features that will enhance performance. The entire architecture dynamically manages cores, threads, interfaces, and power. The new architecture also allows running two threads simultaneously per core. That means a quad-core processor is capable of running up to eight threads simultaneously. New extensions are applied to Intel Streaming SMID that focus on improving string, XML, and text processing. The architecture also boasts a superior shared L3 cache. The high-end design delivers up to two or three times more peak bandwidth, and up to four times realized bandwidth when compared with Core 2 or Intel Xeon processors.

The Intel Core i7 will debut in three editions: Core i7-965, Core i7-940, and Core i7-920. The clock speeds, in GHz, are 3.20, 2.93, and 2.66 respectively. All three editions have 8MB of cache each. All three processors have recorded idle temperatures of around the 40 degrees range (Celsius), and load temperatures going into the 50-60 degrees range (depending on the configuration) at stock speeds and cooling. All of the processor models use Intel’s Quickpath Interconnect technology, which means that motherboards have to be upgraded along with the processors.

Intel Core i7 Processor Series Key Features & Specifications

Intel DX58SO Motherboard

Bottle necks slow down performance. This happens when the processor, or one of its core, is unable to fetch data or instructions fast enough. The memory of the computer system is particularly important because of the amount of data that is passed through it as the system receives instructions from the applications. Theoretically speaking, this means that the faster a processor receives data from memory, the better the performance.

Traditionally, processors have been connected to the memory of a computer via an external bi-directional front-side bus (FSB). This bus served as the central connection point between the processors, the chipset that contains the memory controller hub, and all the other buses such as PCI, AGP, etc.

Intel engineers know that having more powerful processors means that the architecture must also be upgraded to ensure that data flows more quickly between all the different components, and thus the Quickpath Interconnect was created.

The most notable element of the Quickpath architecture is that the memory controller is now integrated into each microprocessor. Each processor has a dedicated memory controller. In the event that a processor needs to access data from the dedicated memory of another core, it can do so through a high speed connection. This allows the cores to get data from memory controllers directly, and connection with other components of the system is also greatly enhanced. The technology is named Quickpath Interconnect because that is precisely what it offers: high speed connection between all the components.

For this reason, the Core i7 processors can only be used on motherboards that support Quickpath Interconnect. The Intel DX58SO is one such example.

The Intel DX58SO motherboard (codename “Smackover”) consists of the Intel X58 Express chipset with ICH10R south bridge chip. The ICH offers support for all the other devices such as video and audio. All buses and components operate on a 133.33 MHz base clock. In other words, a multiplier is applied to the base clock to acquire a speed value. There are four multipliers on the motherboard that affects the overall system speed. They are the CPU speed, the memory speed, the Quickpath Interconnect (QPI) speed, and the uncore speed. The first three are dedicated to overclocking.  Uncore speed is the multiplier that is applied to devices that do not draw power from the processor. Together, these four multipliers manage the overall system performance.

Besides support for the Core i7 processors (it supports all three editions), the DX58SO also offers other features, including integrated Intel audio, improved graphics performance, and the PCI Express 2.0 interface that delivers up to 16GB/s bandwidth per port.

As all data and applications are stored on a systems hard drive, it is of utmost importance that the system is able to draw data from the drives very quickly. This is achieved through six SATA ports with transfer speeds of up to 3GB/s. For external storage devices, eSATA is available to help achieve the same performance.

With the DX58SO motherboard, Intel actually emphasizes system stability significantly. For example, the motherboard features an exclusive fault tolerant BIOS that virtually eliminates downtime due to a corrupted BIOS.

The new features certainly promise highly enhanced performance. However, how does the Core i7 perform under stringent hardware tests?

Test Results

Testing has been performed on four separate systems. The first three systems are the three editions of Core i7 processors. They are mounted on the DX58SO motherboard. The last system is the Intel X3350 processor (overclocked to 3.2 GHz), mounted on an ASUS P5E3 motherboard.

All 4 systems were put through a series of benchmarking tests using leading diagnostic/testing applications such as 3DMark system test, SANDRA 2009 system test, Everest Ultimate system test, POV Ray, SuperPi, WinRAR, Crysis, and World in Conflict tests. The results from so many tests reveal almost everything that enthusiasts would want to know about how the Core processors fare when compared to the X3350 overclocked processor. Performance values are obtained for CPU, memory, and storage system tests, single and quad-core rendering tests, and graphics performance tests (DirectX).

The CPU system tests reveal that the Core i7 processors outperform the X3350 processor by as much as 40%. The difference is even more dramatic for the memory tests. Memory bandwidth was shown to be over 100% higher (more than double) for all three editions of the Core i7 processor. Compared to the X3350 system, which uses external memory controllers, the direct memory controllers on the Core i7-based systems certainly works much better. 

The 3DMark scores are usually used by gamers to gauge how efficient a system performs when running a 3D game. There are two scores – one for the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and one for the CPU. The GPU scores showed very little differences, as the graphics card used on all systems is the same. As the graphics processing was offloaded to the GPU while the tests were ran, the results are rather predictable. However, the CPU reflects slight differences that fall between the range of 5% to 10%, with the highest end Core i7 processor having the highest score.

The SuperPi scores are used by overclockers and enthusiasts all over the world to benchmark and test the stability of an overclocked system. The assumption is that if a system can successfully compute PI values for up to the 32 millionth decimal place without error, it is moderately stable in terms of RAM and CPU. Tests done on 1M, 2M, and 4M calculations all show that the highest end Core i7 processor produces the best performance. The X3350 processor loses out to the Core i7 920 by a small margin.

Conclusion

Whether you are a hardcore 3D gamer, a professional graphics artist, or an overclocker, the information will help you make better buying decisions. After all, the additional power from the Core i7 processors is meant to provide significant value for the consumer.

3D applications, audio, and video software definitely perform much better on Core i7 based systems. The new architecture is also more stable compared to traditional configurations. Traditionally, graphics and video editing is very time-intensive as the system must process a great deal of data from activities such as panning, zooming, and adding special effects.  With higher performance hardware, the editing process can proceed more smoothly and requires less time. The latest edition of the immensely popular image and video software suite, Adobe CS4 from software giant Adobe Systems, has already announced that their software is now compatible with the latest Core i7 based systems.  Pegasys Inc.’s TMPGEnc also utilizes the threading capabilities of the processor very well.

Ultimately, the buying decision depends on one’s personal needs and preferences. The suggested retail price for Core i7 processors is as follows: $999.00 for Core i7-965, $562.00 for Core i7-940, and $299.00 for Core i7-920. For professionals and gamers who run a lot of resource intensive applications, the higher end models will be highly desirable. For typical consumers looking to upgrade for improved performance, anything better than the Core i7-920 may be overkill.

The first distinct difference is the 2.5 inch LCD monitor. This is an exclusive device that can be plugged into the motherboard through any available USB port. It displays overclocking options and vital system information such as CPU temperature, fan speeds, etc. The user can easily monitor system performance, and take action should a problem arise (e.g. temperature rising to unstable/unacceptable levels). A Yahoo! Widget can also be used to access the data.

The ASUS P6T has three PCI Express 2.0 slots. The first two slots will run at x16 speed. If the second slot is set to x8 speed, the third slot can also run at x8 speed. This gives the user more flexibility for the hardware that can be used. Obviously, if you only need to use two slots (e.g. installing two graphics cards), both will run at x16 speed. In addition, a x4 speed PCI slot and two regular PCI slots are provided.

Another key feature of the ASUS P6T motherboard is the inclusion of SLI support.  This is a strategic business move on the part of ASUS, since NVIDIA charges a royalty fee per motherboard sold to manufacturers that offer support for SLI.  It is not supported by all manufacturers for this reason.

Memory wise, the board offers six physical slots, separated into two different colors. To achieve maximum efficiency, only three or six memory modules should be installed. If only 3 modules are installed, the same color slots should be used. In total, you can install up to 12GB of memory on the ASUS board.

Overall, the ASUS P6T compares very favorably to other options in many ways.  While it doesn’t offer the four PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots or fourteen USB 2.0 ports of the Foxconn Renaissance motherboard, the ASUS P6T is an excellent option due to the extras assuming it includes all the functionality you require.