Computex 2010 Show Coverage - Part 3
In this next part of our Computex 2010 special, we toured the booths of Acer, ASRock, AVerMedia, ECS, Hanvon, Jetway, Luxa Microsoft, MSI, Shuttle, Thermaltake and Zotac to bring you their highlights.
Acer's Booth - Part 1
Our first stop was at Acer, which featured a home entertainment setup involving Clear.fi, which appears to be a "new entertainment experience that allows real time sharing and playing of multi-format content over multi-platform devices."
But before that, we dropped by the new ebook reader launched by Acer, the LumiRead 600, which looks a bit like a Kindle due to its QWERTY keyboard, has a 6-inch E Ink display and built-in Wi-Fi connectivity with optional 3G. It comes with 2GB of flash memory and a microSD card slot for additional storage. One of its unique features is a ISBN barcode scanner so that you can scan the books you want at a retail store. It also supports an Opera browser,
We also saw Acer's AMD powered netbook, the Aspire One 521, which uses one of AMD's newer single-core V105 processor and Radeon HD 4225 graphics for full 1080p playback support.
Android phones are the hottest things this year and Acer unleashes another smartphone, this time using Android 2.1 and equipped with a shiny 3.7-inch AMOLED display. A 1GHz Snapdragon processor makes for a smooth lag-free experience that is even capable of playing and recording 720p content.
Of course, the older Acer Liquid gets jazzed up with a Ferrari edition though there's no change to its less than snappy 768MHz Snapdragon processor. It's also running on Android 2.1.
We haven't seen this version of Acer's Predator gaming system, which appears to have a different chassis design and refreshed internals, including the choice of Intel's Core i7-8xx processor, Intel H57 Express chipset and with two easy-swap 3.5" HDD bays.
Acer's Booth - Part 2
We spotted this 23-inch multi-touch display, the T231H, which is full HD capable and comes with a specially designed hinge for easy adjustment.
A Best Choice of Computex 2010, the Acer Aspire 8943G certainly has the looks to wow over the audience. This multimedia desktop replacement notebook also has the substance, thanks to its Core i7 and Radeon HD 5850 combination. Dolby Home Theater helps to bring you the surround sound experience.
Finally, here's the Revo home entertainment setup, consisting of the Acer RevoCenter, which is a compact HTPC with HDMI port and allowance for up to 500GB HDD, the Acer RevoView, which is a HD media player which can hold a swappable 3,5" HDD (up to 2TB) and plays full HD media via HDMI.
The Acer Revo HTPC here comes with up to 4GB of memory and supports Gigabit Ethernet LAN.
The Acer RevoView is meant mainly for playing media on your HDTV, including HD content.
ASRock's Booth
ASRock had a full range of motherboards for both AMD and Intel platforms on show, including some interesting twists on USB 3.0 support.
First up, we quickly spotted ASRock's P67 Express motherboard, the P67 Extreme3, which comes with solid capacitors throughout, with two SATA 6Gbps ports and USB 3.0 support. A debug LED can be seen and it should support both ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI.
This extreme Intel X58 board comes with a special fan cooler on the heatsink for the power delivery system. It can be turned off if the user is not into overclocking. Again, solid capacitors and SATA 6Gbps/USB 3.0 support.
This G41MH/USB3 board is one of the rare entry level boards (using Intel G41 + ICH7 chipsets) that come with USB 3.0 support.
This ASRock 890FX Deluxe3 board has four USB 3.0 ports, something that we haven't seen so far from other vendors. It's useful for the early adopters who are preparing to go all out on USB 3.0 devices. It also comes with the fan cooler on its heatsink.
As we mentioned earlier, ASRock is betting big on USB 3.0. This is a front panel extension for USB 3.0 ports. It's also one of the first of its kind. According to ASRock, it's not exactly cheap, though it will be bundled with its P55 Extreme3 board.
This is the ASRock Vision 3D-BD, which is a compact HTPC based on Intel's HM55 chipset. It has a 3D Vision capable GeForce GPU inside and a Blu-ray drive installed to live up to its name.
The Core 100HT-BD meanwhile uses Intel HD Graphics, thanks to its mobile Core i3 processor inside. It's meant for those who are more into Blu-ray playback, and it comes with a Blu-ray drive for this purpose, along with Win 7 Home Premium installed.
AVerMedia's Booth
When it comes to video capturing, TV tuner cards, analog or digital and other tech related to watching and recording TV/media, you can assume AVerMedia has a solution for it.
The AVerMedia AVerLife HD Theater is a portable HD media player (1080i) with a digital HDTV receiver and network capabilities. It's also a Best Choice winner at Computex 2010
The AVerMedia HD HomeFree Duet allows one to share your TV programs between two PCs. It comes with two integrated DVB-T tuners so that it can broadcast to two PC at the same time. Full HD is supported.
AVerMedia also has this SnugTV Station app and web portal where one can watch live TV streamed through the internet using a web browser. So if you have set your home PC properly as the streaming host, you can use this to watch TV from your home while away in another country.
The DarkCrystal HD Capture Station here is a box with built-in hardware H.264 support, allowing users to capture up to 1080i content from your TV source.
ECS' Booth
Motherboards and graphics cards were the main stars at ECS' booth.
This demo system is based on ECS' A890GXM-AU motherboard, which has been chosen as a Best Choice of Computex 2010. One of its features is the auto-unlocking of hidden cores on certain AMD processors.
ECS was also showing off its P67 boards, like this P67H2-A2, which comes with 4x DDR3 DIMMs, 4x SATA 3.0Gbps ports, 2x SATA 6Gbps ports and 4x USB 3.0 ports.
This Black series P67 based board, the ECS P67H2-M is a microATX board with a single PCIe x16 slot. Ports like SATA and USB are reduced from the previous P67 board but that's understandable.
For the full P67 treatment, take this ECS P67H2-A, which comes with three PCIe x16 slots, 4x USB 3.0 ports and dual Gigabit LAN.
ECS is also touting its 'Deep Green' technology, which it claims manages to lower sleep mode power consumption down to 0.001W, which is better than the EuP standard of 0.25W.
We also saw this GTX 465 board from ECS at its booth, though it looks to be the reference design.
The ECS G10-3D is touted as the most powerful AIO PC now, and with its Core i7-875K processor inside, it certainly has a case against most competitors. It uses a discrete GeForce 9800 GT solution to enable its 3D capability. Meanwhile, the 21.5-inch display has a resolution of 1920 x 1080.
This is the Everest EB-900, which is a ebook reader with a 9.7-inch E Ink display and which is powered by a Marvell processor. It has a digitizer touch screen which can accept a stylus. Linux is the main OS. 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity are other key features.
Hanvon's Booth
We have to admit that we haven't heard of Chinese firm Hanvon until they debuted its TouchPad, a tablet targeted at Apple's iPad. Of course we have to check it out.
While the 10-inch TouchPad (B10) looked a bit thicker than we liked, it does have a decent, polished feel to it. Its specs include a Celeron ULV (1.3GHz) with an Intel 4 series mobile chipset and 2GB of RAM. It runs Win 7 Home Premium and from what little we tried, it seemed usable enough,
The Win 7 desktop on the TouchPad.
Hanvon apparently has quite a few ebook reader models available, all of which were on display at its booth. Features on some of these models include Wi-Fi, an E Ink display and multiple format support.
The Sentip 1201WD is a LED backlit pen tablet with up to 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity.
Jetway's Booth
Jetway's booth at Computex was mainly about its motherboards, including both retail and industrial versions. Jetway also showed off some of its notebooks here.
A wall showing off Jetway's graphics cards, which are all based on NVIDIA GPUs.
Like most motherboard vendors, Jetway had a next-gen Intel 6 series motherboard on show, though there were few details on what to expect. From what we can see, there are two PCIe x16 slots at least.
Jetway's lineup of Intel-based motherboards.
These Jetway motherboards use AMD chipsets.
This Mini-TOP barebones PC is mainly intended as a media center and uses an Intel processor (1.8GHz) with an NVIDIA GT218 GPU. It has both HDMI and eSATA ports within that slim form factor.
Microsoft's Booth
Microsoft's presence at Computex 2010 was mainly about promoting the various efforts by other developers and vendors on its platforms, with a PC gallery showing more than a few interesting tablet concepts based on Windows OS.
Here's the PC gallery which is gathering more than its fair share of attention, no thanks to the many tablets on show here, including quite a few prototypes. Microsoft is certainly trying hard to counter the perception that Windows is not suited for the tablet experience.
The LG UX10 is slim, attractive and an instant attention grabber. Running Win 7 Home Premium, this tablet is a 10.1-inch version that uses an Intel Atom Z530 processor with 1GB of DDR2 memory. It comes with a 1.3-megapixel camera with a 7500mAh battery and weighs just 850g.
We know all about ASUS' tablets by now and the Eee Pad EP121 is one of the two introduced by ASUS at Computex 2010, boasting an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and running Win 7 Home Premium. According to its label, it has a 32/64GB SSD with a 0.3-megapixel camera.
It may say Windows Phone here but despite the newish naming convention and logo, we didn't see any Windows Phone 7 models here. All the phones on show here were using Windows Mobile 6.5 at best.
The new Office 2010 is one of Microsoft's big thing this year and there were quite a few stations devoted to showing off the new features in Microsoft's dominant productivity suite.
This is the Unihan Eagle B, one of the many developers/vendors on show at Microsoft's booth that are using a variant of MS' operating systems. This 6-inch E Ink ebook reader is using Windows Embedded CE 6.0.
We also saw this extremely rugged looked PC at the Microsoft showcase. This 10.4-inch device runs on Win 7 Professional and it certainly looks ready for military use.
One of the more unique devices we saw at this booth is the Onkyo dual-screen notebook, which uses an AMD processor and more importantly comes with two separate screens.
MSI's Booth - Part 1
We have already covered MSI's press conference and its component section, but there remains quite a substantial amount of hardware on show at MSI's booth.
This year, MSI is determined to get a slice of the gaming notebook segment and to give it the street cred and publicity, it has got one of the world's top professional gaming team, Fnatic to promote its gaming notebooks at Computex 2010.
The MSI GT660 3D is not only suited for gaming with its NVIDIA GTX 285M GPU, but it also comes with 3D technology in the form of a pair of polarizer glasses that can allow the viewing of 3D content. PowerDVD 10 is included as its software is capable of converting 2D content to 3D.
This is the non-3D version of the GT660, which is powered by an Intel Core i7-720QM processor and the same GTX 285M GPU. It also offers a premium audio experience with its Dynaudio sound feature.
For those who are not so much into gaming, the FX660 has more modest specs, including the choice of a Core i7/i5 processor together with a GeForce GT325M with 1GB of video memory. THX Surround sound is supported to enhance the multimedia experience.
We also saw this GT760 model which appears to be the bigger version of the GT660. While the CPU is specified to be an Intel Core i7-720QM, there are no details on the GPU besides it being a next-gen NVIDIA graphics. Fermi based is our guess.
For the ATI option, MSI has the GE700, which uses an ATI Radeon HD 5730 along with a Core i5 processor.
A more powerful gaming notebook on the AMD GPU platform is this MSI GX640 which has a Radeon HD 5850 graphics processor inside.
The 12.1-inch MSI Wind U250 netbook uses an Athlon X2 processor instead of the usual Atom with an ATI Radeon HD 4225 integrated graphics that should allow it to play HD content flawlessly.
MSI's Booth - Part 2
MSI has not neglected the desktop gaming scene and it has introduced the Drakon series, like this Drakon M1, which uses an Intel Core i5/i7 processor and a MSI Radeon HD 5850 Twin Frozr II graphics card. The chassis is also designed to have liquid cooling for better overclocking allowance.
The Drakon S1 uses Thermaltake's Level 10 chassis and outfits it with an Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition CPU and MSI's Radeon HD 5850 Twin Frozr II GPU.
As you should know by now, this is MSI's tablet, the Wind Pad 100, which is based on Intel's Atom and comes with Win 7 as its OS.
And here's a closer glance at the rather unique dual keyboard/sketch pad of the MSI Sketch Book. It's an interesting concept albeit a very niche design, which is probably why there's no word on when it will be actually released.
This Wind Top AE2420 is a 23.6-inch AIO PC with a multi-touch full HD display. It uses a Core i5 CPU with Radeon HD 5730 graphics (discrete ATI Mobility).
And this is claimed by MSI as the first 3D capable AIO PC. The Wind Top AE2420 3D is also a Core i5 based machine with Radeon HD graphics. It's fully HD capable with multi-touch function and 3D of course.
MSI is also entering the robot vacuum arena, There are three models available, including camera and internet connectivity for some of the higher models. MSI expects to launch them early next year and they should provide some competition for Roomba.
Shuttle's Booth
Shuttle has gradually diversified from its small form factor PC niche and we saw a few more devices besides those at its booth.
One of these is the XS35, a slim HTPC which is based on the Atom platform and meant to HD content on your big screen, equipped with NVIDIA's Ion 2. It is a completely fanless design for silent operation.
The I/O ports include USB, HDMI, Ethernet port and even a Kensington lock.
Shuttle has kept updating its SFF platforms and the SX58J3 is now capable of supporting Intel's top 6-core processor along with NVIDIA's GTX 480 GPU. It's impressive how Shuttle has managed to squeeze an 80 PLUS 500W PSU into such a small box.
Less impressive but still featuring very current tech is this H55 based SFF, which has an Intel Core i7-860 CPU together with ATI's Radeon HD 4670 graphics card.
This is an external graphics solution from Shuttle where users are able to pick and choose their own GPU to be installed inside. However, the 90W power adapter does restrict it to more mainstream models. It supports two USB 2.0 ports.
Shuttle meanwhile has been focusing on its Shuttle PCB Assembly initiative, where OEMs can make use of Shuttle's platform to quickly configure and launch notebooks. The SPA system here is meant for 13.3-inch and above mainstream notebooks and Shuttle offers quite a few options for the chipset and screen display.
The uSPA platform meanwhile is targeted at notebooks of 10.1-inch and above.
One of the many 'assembled' notebooks offered by Shuttle as an example of its SPA initiative.
Thermaltake's Booth
With the bevy of showgals stationed at Thermaltake's booth, it's no surprise that it had quite a sizable crowd when we popped by.
Thermaltake's Level 10 casing, the star attraction from the vendor at the last Computex got a spray paint job this year.
The Thermaltake Armor A30 may look small and portable but it can support even the longer graphics card. The mesh design ensure there's more than adequate airflow (and more dust) and it also has a built-in USB 3.0 connector. It comes with a large 23cm fan at the top for better cooling.
The Armor A60 is similarly designed, with USB 3.0 connector and supports up to 7 fans for better airflow. The mesh design too is present.
The A60 also has this 'SideClick EasySwap' design which is meant to help the removal/installation of a 3.5-inch HDD.
Talking about easy swapping of HDD, the V9 BlacX Edition here has a dual- bay docking design at the top here. It's a strange sight if you ask us. Additionally, USB 3.0 is supported on this tool-free chassis,
The Frio cooler here is designed for overclocking, with two variable control fans (1200 to 2500RPM) and a nickel-coated copper base for the best in heat dissipation.
Thermaltake's ToughPower Grand series of power supply units are all 80 PLUS Gold certified and range from 750W to 1075W.
Luxa's Booth
Luxa is as the sign here says, part of Thermaltake and it is focused on more luxurious products.
The H3 aluminum and silicone based mobile holder is prepared for the iPhone 4G but it works with quite a number of different mobile phones currently. Users can adjust it to fit their phones.
Luxa even has a product ready for the iPad. The H4 is made from aluminum and has six supporting arms that are adjustable. It can also support the Kindle DX.
Like the other mobile phone holder, the H1 here is iPhone 4G compatible. It can be rotated by 360 degree and like the other Luxa holders, made of aluminum.
Zotac's Booth
Zotac predominantly has graphics cards on show at its booth, along with a couple of mini-ITX and other small form factor motherboards.
A standard looking reference design GTX 465 with Zotac's logo.
With dual cooler fans, this is the GTX 480 AMP! Edition from Zotac.
The GTX 470 AMP! Edition uses a similar dual-fan cooling design.
We also saw this NM10-DTX WiFi, which is based on the Ion 2 and uses an Atom processor. It has up to three display options (VGA, DVI, HDMI) and comes with integrated Wi-Fi functionality.
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