CeBIT 2009 - Part 6
In this CeBIT 2009 update article, we show you what's new from Acer, Intel, LG, Luxa2 and Transcend. Plenty of new MIDs, notebooks, casings and more were showcased, so don't miss this update!
Acer's Booth
Acer's booth suites both its corporate color scheme and that of the ongoing 'green-IT' movement.
Trendy new case designs for some of their systems.
1, response time of 2ms and all the three common video input connections (VGA, DVI, HDMI).
- the Predator gaming machines along with their color-matched Acer G24 gaming monitors.
This is the Acer Altos G540M2 tower server. It features the latest Intel Tylersberg platform to support dual Nehalem-class Intel Xeon 5500 processors - the latest workstation platform. Other features include dual Gigabit LAN, 96GB maximum memory support and dual PSU support, eight 3.5-inch SATA SAS drives and up to 16 2.5-inch SATA SAS drives. All the SATA drives are hot-swappable.
And this is the Acer Aspire easyStore home server which utilizes the Windows Home Server system. Though it looks really nice, we're not quite sure of its performance as it uses an Intel Atom 230 embedded processor on the Intel 945GC platform.
It takes in up to four hard drives, though not hot-swappable. In terms of connectivity and expansion, it has a space PCIe x4 interface inside, five USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA port and one LAN port.
Intel's Pavilion - Notebooks Refreshed
Intel had a whole Pavilion to themselves (building 33 to be exact) and an entire hall for gaming, but more on that later. We check out some cool highlights in the Pavilion first.
They had a dedicated area to show off how their ecosystem of products from the Atom, their IOP processors, Intel G45 platform, Centrino 2 and more all worked together in your modern entertainment setup.
Speaking of the Atom, Intel had a whole line-up of MID devices from its partners that have yet to hit the market. This is the UMID M1. Comes in 512MB/1GB memory capacities, up to 32GB SSD capacity, a 4.8-inch screen (1024 x 600), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HSDPA DVB-H, DAB, T-DMB and optional connectivity such as GPS and DVB-T.
Here's another MID, the Viliv S5 Ultra PC PMP. Has 4.8-inch screen too (1024 x 600), up to 60B HDD, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, DVB-H, DAB, T-DMB and optional are HSDPA module and DVB-T.
The OQO model 2+ is an expensive MID slated to cost around US$800. Runs on Windows Vista, 2B RAM, up to 120GB HDD or 64GB SSD, a 5-inch screen (800 x 480), Wi-Fi, LAN and WWAN.
Here's the D4 MID from Sharp. Has a 5-inch screen (1024 x 600), 1GB memory, 40GB HDD, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Windows Vista.
Here's the Benq S6. it has a 4.8-inch screen (800 x 400), 512MB memory, up to 8GB SSD, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth HSDPA and uses a
Finally, we have the Lenovo Ideapad U8 which we've chanced upon previously as well. It's specs are almost identical to the BenQ and not much else is known besides that.
This is a silicon wafer of Atom processors that's powering the MID devices shown here. The Atom is so small that a single 300mm wafer yields about 2500 processors.
Intel's Pavilion - Notebooks Refreshed (continued)
While we've recently seen the super slim Samsung X360, 13.3-inch notebook, here's the 14.1-inch X460 brother that comes with an ODD drive, a more powerful full fledged Centrino 2 platform and NVIDIA's GeForce 9200M GS graphics.
For a larger and more powerful notebook, Samsung has this smart looking office laptop, the P560-Pro. It is a 15.4-inch notebook with a matt screen and is based on the Centrino 2 platform.
For a similar sized notebook but one that's more cost efficient (read as less feature packed and leaner specs), Dell has the new Vostro A860.
While Panasonic has had this Toughbook CF-52 model for quite some time, it recently underwent an update internally to feature the latest Centrino 2 platform and meets the latest Energy Star 4.0 rating. The design and overall features of the model itself are very functional and well-received, so there are no updates on the overall appearance.
Intel's Gaming Hall
As we mentioned earlier, Intel and EA had their massive gaming tournament at Hall 22 dubbed the Intel Extreme Masters.
One of the several areas within the hall where the action took place. Notice that they used Dell's XPS gaming desktops?
For those who came to support their friends, there were other things to do to keep them occupied like racing simulation for example.
And of course Intel used this arena for some massive Core i7 branding and experience as well.
LG's Booth - Display Panels
LG had several new displays for showcase which are not yet out in the market till April or June of this year. We'll start off with the eco-friendly office series monitors such as this W2442PA-SF monitor shown in the picture. It's a 24-inch screen, 16:9 aspect ratio, 1920 x 1080 resolution, 2ms response time, 300 lumens brightness, 10000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, has DVI-D, VGA, HDMI and is TCO'03 and EPA Energy Star certified. This is TN-panel, but if you prefer an IPS panel, go for the W2420P.
Here's a pretty 23-inch monitor that won't be out till June this year. The W2343T has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, 5ms response time, 16:9 aspect ratio, 300 lumens brightness, dynamic contrast ratio of 30000:1, VGA and DVI-D connectors.
The W2361V is a close cousin of the above W2443T and is coming out earlier in April with better specs such as a 2ms (GTS) response time and 50000:1 dynamic contrast ratio.
For a Full HD monitor TV panel, then the M237WD is the ideal choice from LG. 23 inches, resolution of 1920 x 1080, 5ms response time, 16:9 aspect ratio, 300 lumens brightness, dynamic contrast ratio of 20000:1, 3 watts speakers, dual HDMI ports, dual Scart inputs, VGA, S-Video and PC audio inputs.
For a bigger screen, LG has a M2794DP, a 27-incher with all of the above, a DVB-T tuner and more powerful 5 watts speakers.
This is no ordinary Blu-ray player. The LG BD-370 is a networked Blu-ray player that is able to stream content from online thanks to a built-in Yahoo streaming client. In addition to reading all sorts of disc media (minus HD DVD), it has a built-in 1080p DVD upscaler, HDMI 1.3 and USB-Plus compliant.
LG's Booth - Notebooks & Others
The LG S510 notebook is quite a beauty of a workhorse. Uses an Intel Centrino 2 platform, a 15.4-inch LED-backlit non-glare LCD (WXGA+), 250GB HDD, SATA DVD Super Multi dual-layer writer, 2MP webcam, fingerprint scanner and TPM module. A GeForce 9300 or 9600 mobile GPU is optional as well.
This is LG P510 and is an equally elegant notebook
Inside, the seamless brushed matt finish is simply gorgeous to the touch and the leveled trackpad is a nice touch to its overall design. It looks and feels expensive and it probably is. No pricing info available at the moment though.
First introduced in CES this year, the LG N4B1 NAS is a swell looking device that almost looks like a mini PC.
It is a four-bay NAS box with RAID level 0, 1, 5, 10 and JBOD. Supports drive hot-swapping and has a small LCD screen for status indication and controls via four buttons. It even has a Blu-ray writer for massive archival of up to 50GB on each dual-layer Blu-ray disc.
And here's our first look at the LG Cookie (the KP500) tri-band mobile phone. It has a full 3-inch touchscreen supporting 262K colors, a 3MP camera, has FM-Tuner, a multimedia player, Bluetooth, USB and microSD expansion slot for more storage.
Luxa2's Booth
Luxa2 is a new division of Thermaltake aiming at the lifestyle oriented folks with classy products. We check out their offerings of accessories and HTPC chassis at the moment.
This is the Luxa2 LM300 Touch Pro chassis for serious HTPC builders. Made from Aluminum extrusion and equipped with a 7-inch touch screen (1024 x 768) with hot keys modules and a card reader, this is a heavy-duty HTPC case which can fit a normal ATX motherboard. It will also be quite expensive at more than US$600.
Going small seems to be the order of the day at the show as this LM100 Mini is a mini-ITX chassis. Also made from Aluminum extrusion, it still manages to cram a VFD display. Luxa2 scores high on aesthetics on their first attempt.
For a mini-tower version of a HTPC chassis, here's the LM400 Touch. It can take in a microATX motherboard or a mini-ITX board.
The Luxa2 MacX is a docking station for 3.5-inch hard drives to your systems.
Fancy a nice notebook cooler? The foldable M3-Air shown here is one and comes with a nice leather cover too. It has a single fan integrated for improved cooling.
If you can't figure what's this device, that's okay as we couldn't either at our first try. This the M4 notebook cooler!
Transcend's Booth
Transcend's booth.
This is Transcent's top overclocking memory modules with speeds rated for up to DDR3-1800 at just 1.8V. It sports aluminum heatsinks with cooling fins, support Intel XMP and has a manufacturer rated timing of 8-8-8-24 at DDR3-1800.
They've also got SSD drives with 128GB and 192GB capacities.
For fast, lightweight and large capacity portable hard drives, Transcend has these 1.8-inch hard drive based solutions.
For high-performance hard drives on an external casing, Transcend offers this enclosure solution with an 80mm high-flow fan unit. Supports both eSATA and USB 2.0 interfaces.
White digital photo frames are dime a dozen, this 8-inch unit (PF810) has stereo speakers, 2GB NAND flash, headphone jack, FM jack, USB connectivity and has eight touch keys for navigation (as well as a remote too).
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