Toshiba Launches Laptop for Gamers
Toshiba 's P105-S921 is the first to bring the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900GS to market
Toshiba has sat on the sidelines for too long in the gaming notebook arena, so they are now coming out swinging with the new Satellite P105-S921. With Toshiba's launch also comes the first announced design win for NVIDIA's new GeForce Go 7900GS mobile GPU.
The P105-S921 will take its place at the top of the Satellite P105 product line and shares the same 7.1 pound frame.
Specs
- GeForce Go 7900GS with 256MB GDDR3 memory (375MHz core/500MHz memory)
- 1.83GHz Core Duo T2400 processor
- 17" WXGA screen (1440x900 w/TruBrite)
- 1GB PC5300 DDR2 memory
- 160GB SATA hard drive
- DVD SuperMulti drive and Windows XP Professional
- Harman/Kardon speakers
- Fingerprint reader
- 5-in-1 media reader
- ExpressCard slot
- 4 USB 2.0 ports, i.LINK IEEE-1394 and TV-out (S-Video)
The P105-S921 retails for $1,999 and is available now from Toshiba Direct.
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Fujitsu prepares 200 GB, 2.5-inch notebook HDD
Fujitsu launches 200GB SATA mobile drive albeit with a 4200RPM spindle speed
Fujitsu MHV2160BT: 160 GB SATA
Fujitsu has announced that it has developed a new 200GB 2.5" Serial ATA hard drive for mobile applications. The MHV2200BT is the world's first 200GB mobile drive and features a 4200RPM spindle speed, best-in-class power consumption, whisper quiet operation and Native Command Queuing (NCQ).
Like its compatriots in the SATA notebook HDD category, the 2200 boasts SATA's optimum host transfer rate of 150 MB/sec. But unlike Seagate, Fujitsu's recording approach assumes a traditional linear methodology, not the perpendicular method Seagate and Toshiba have championed. Using perpendicular, Toshiba and Seagate have been able to boost areal density, so they can avoid resorting to the three-platter approach that Fujitsu has opted for. Fujitsu does not report on its drives' areal densities.
Price
Fujitsu is expected to start shipping the new MHV2200BT in the third quarter. Pricing has not yet been announced.
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Dell unveils D820, D620 'super 3G'-ready notebooks
Dell has begun taking orders for its anticipated Latitude D620 and D820 business-oriented notebooks
Dell says the higher-end machine will sport an Nvidia graphics chip as yet unannounced by the GPU maker. It also said the machine will be offered with an HSDPA 3G data card - but not yet.
Specs
The 120M is offered as an option on the D820, as is the 110M, also offered as an option on the D820. Both notebooks use Intel's GMA 950 integrated graphics core in the base configurations.
The 120M and the 110M use Nvidia's TurboCache system to add main memory to the video buffer attached to the GPU. The D620 ships with 64MB of video RAM, the D820 with 128MB - Turbocache can lift that to 256MB (with the 110M) and 512MB (via the 120M).
Both notebooks are based on Intel's Centrino platform and are offered with a range of Core Solo and Core Duo processor choices. Each ships with an Intel ProWireless 3945ABG 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi adaptor. The D820 ships with up to 4GB of 533MHz or 667MHz DDR 2 SDRAM (up to 2GB in the D620's case), and 40-100GB of Serial ATA hard drive storage.
The D620 ships with a 14.1 display, while the D820 has a 15.4in screen. In each case, buyers can choose between a panel with either a 1,440 x 900 or a 1,280 x 800 native widescreen resolution, and D820 buyers can also pick a 1,920 x 1,200 panel.
Super 3G
Dell also touted its Wireless 5505 Mobile Broadband card, which will connect the D820 to 3G networks equipped with HSDPA technology for faster downloads. However, the 5505 has yet to be added to the D820's build-to-order page.
In January, Dell said it would offer the card sometime in the first half of the year. The card actually comes from Vodafone, and is manufactured by Option. It provides download speeds of up to 1.8Mbps (the upload speed is 384Kbps), up to five times faster than today's standard 3G networks, Option said.
Prices
The D620 starts at £699, the D820 from £749. Prices exclude VAT and delivery, Dell said.
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Albatron launches 7900GT for small-form-factor PCs
Albatron Technology has launched the 7900GT graphics card in a shorter and slimmer form factor, but retaining strong game playing capabilities. The new card is designed to give gamers the power to use the most intensive 3D graphics software available today in small-form-factor (SFF) systems, according to the company.
Most SFF systems, such as cube PCs, are limited in space, length and width. The limited space may restrict the use of the latest high-performance graphics cards, Albatron said. Due to heat sinks and cooling fans, a high-performance graphics card is thicker and longer than average cards, the company noted. The GeForce 7900 GT series manages to solve the heat dissipation challenges in a smaller form factor, according to Albatron.
Specs
Albatron’s 7900GT card is at least 3cm shorter than the 7900GTX series and half as thick. However, with the smaller size, there is no compromise in game play capabilities. Based on the latest generation of Nvidia graphics processor unit (GPU) technology, the 7900GT card offers a 256-bit memory bus and 256MB of DDR3 memory, with a 1360MHz memory clock.
The card's core can clock up to a 450MHz and is engineered using 90nm process technology. This card also includes 20 pipelines and supports the Scalable Link Interface (SLI) multi-GPU technology, with dual-DVI connectors for use with an HDTV cable (bundled) supporting HDTV, S-Video and AV output.
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WD unveils 6GB pocket drive
Western Digital (WD) has announced its take on the USB-driven external microdrive, launching a bus-powered 6GB hard disk drive under its Passport Pocket brand. The 6 x 4.5 x 0.9cm, 45g unit contains a 1in, 3,600rpm HDD with a 2MB cache. It has a mean read seek time of 11ms, WD said, and a nominal average latency of 8.3ms.
The drive's USB 2.0 connector folds into a recess in the drive housing, a feature WD claimed was "unique", even though LaCie's Skwarim drives already offer such a facility, as do other such drives. WD said the USB connector is sufficiently thin to allow two of the drives to be used simultaneously on two of the most proximate USB ports
Price
WD wants $130 for the drive, which is available immediately.