Dave Altavilla
Recent posts
When was the last time a major OEM reached out to you and asked for direct, personal input on what you'd like to see in an upcoming notebook or netbook product? Chances are your response is something to the effect of "never" or not since the day they started using them...
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Finding the right chassis for a system build is like setting up the foundation before building out the design of your computer and working your craftsmanship into the intricate details of component selection and configuration. Start with a good foundation that caters to your build requirements and you're bound to have a better overall end...
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Dell's Studio line of products is a breath of fresh air to everyone who remembers the company's tendency toward "beige boxes" from days gone by. The hip, modern look embodied by the Studio moniker has rubbed off on the new Studio XPS 13, a tight-fitting ultraportable notebook with loads of...
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We've had a chance to sift through all of the entries in our AMD Economic Stimulus Sweepstakes and have chosen our five lucky contestants! Before we announce the lucky folks who'll be battling it our for a bunch of AMD-based goodness, we want to take minute to thank everyone who...
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NVIDIA and Acer collectively took the wraps off the very first NVIDIA Ion-based design win, with a sleek new SFF PC (Small Form Factor PC) called the AspireRevo. Built on the NVIDIA Ion platform, the AspireRevo consists of NVIDIA's GeForce 9400 chipset with integrated graphics in support...
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Synopsis: Intel's Core i7 processor offers a significant performance increase over previous generation Core 2 processors. In addition, like the legacy Core 2 architecture, the new Core i7 also has a bunch more headroom for wringing upside performance out of the chip, maximizing...
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NVIDIA launched the GeForce GTX 285 about three months ago, and in our launch article, we found it to be a very strong product. As you are no doubt aware, the GTX 285 is a replacement for the GTX 280. The GT200B GPU at the heart of the GTX 285 is nearly identical to the GTX 280's GT200 GPU...
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At just 65W, Intel's new S-series quad-core processors have a TDP (thermal design power) rating that's 30W lower than traditional Core 2 Quad chips, which are all rated for 95W. In fact, the only other 65W chips Intel offers are from the Core 2 Duo line-up of dual-core processors. The...
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Boutique system builders tend to fall into three categories, there are the more custom or high-end offerings from some of the larger names like Dell/Alienware or HP/Voodoo (though you may or may not classify them as "boutique"), there are offerings from large e-tailers like...
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When we think about what is perhaps the one draw-back that enthusiasts and gamers could point to with respect to an Intel chipset-based motherboard, historically, it was lack of NVIDIA SLI multi-GPU support. Though you could drop more than one AMD ATI Radeon-based graphics...
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Over the past few months, you may have noticed that we've been participating in a collaborative initiative with Asus and Intel in an effort to bring the end user online community (you!) together with Asus design engineering and marketing teams to envision, innovate, design, and ultimately...
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Today we’ve got a detailed look at the latest revision of the Asus line of Eee PC 1000 series netbooks – the Asus Eee PC 1000HE. Asus continues to refine their hugely successful 10” netbook family. Here’s a snip: The fit and finish, build quality and overall allure of this machine isn't all that different versus its closely...
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Hot on the heels of the Core i7, Intel disclosed some details regarding the acceleration of their 32nm product ramp today in a press conference. Dubbed Westmere, the new processor family will have a smaller die geometry, increased performance across single and multithreaded usage...
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Synopsis: As Gaming Notebooks go, there are always going to be trade-offs to make and a balance to strike between performance, weight, and cost. The Asus G50Vt strikes a happy medium, weighing in at 7.5lbs and around $949 at retail outlets like Best Buy with higher-end SKUs...
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In early January, back from our roadtrip to Vegas with CES show buzz and bewilderment still fresh in our minds, we brought you an interview with Drew Henry, General Manager of NVIDIA's MCP products. Drew gave us a first-hand glimpse at a new small form factor PC platform that NVIDIA was...
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Late last week Western Digital briefed us on their forthcoming release of a new addition to their Caviar Green family of hard drives. No we're not talking some sort of exotic sushi or cracker-bound fish egg here either but rather a new, rather humongous and environmentally more friendly...
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Today, we're going to take a look at an XFX version of the GTX 260 (Core 216) with their XFX GeForce GTX 260 (216) Black Edition. The Black Editon takes the GeForce 260 (216) reference design to the next level by giving the GPU and Memory speeds a significant boost for added performance...
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There was a time when laser beams were a thing of science fiction and the picture phone just found on episodes of The Jetsons. And cloaking devices, well let's just say the Romulans gave James T. and the gang a bit of heart burn with their peek-a-boo ways but in reality the capability...
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At the Consumer Electronics Show this past week, NVIDIA was demonstrating a new reference platform for an ultra small form-factor multimedia PC and we should underscore the word "ultra". To say this new product concept is tiny would be an understatement. Consider if you will, an...
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At the Consumer Electronics Show this past week, NVIDIA was demonstrating a new reference platform for an ultra small form-factor multimedia PC and we should underscore the word "ultra". To say this new product concept is tiny would be an understatement. Consider if you will...
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NVIDIA is officially taking the wraps off of their stereoscopic 3D technology, now known as GeForce 3D Vision. NVIDIA's GeForce 3D Vision product consists of a pair of wireless, rechargeable glasses, a base station / IR transmitter, and the necessary software and cables to connect the device to a PC. However, it needs some other specific hardware...
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Today, fresh out of the gate for 2009, NVIDIA returns AMD's volley with their own optimized, multi-GPU, single card solution that aims to trump their rivals current product. NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 295 is unleashed today. With a pair of 55nm GT200B GPUs under its hood in a pseudo-single card, dual slot height configuration, it's...
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