Hasta La Gadget!

Did you get giddy at the thought of playing around with VIA Technologies APC 8750 Android-based board, but failed to get in on the pre-order action? Good news for you, as folks wanting to dig into its custom Gingerbread OS, 800Mhz ARMv6 CPU and 3D graphics engine can head on over to Newegg and get one for $59.99. Unfortunately, it’s currently out of stock, but our gadget senses tell us that more APC’s will be available soon, and you can head on over to the source link below and sign up to be notified when it happens. If patience isn’t your thing, feel free to hit up the source and give your F5 key a workout instead.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Filed under: Desktops

VIA Technologies APC 8750 mobo / CPU combo will go on sale today for $60 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 14:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple IIGS? Of course. Commodore 64C? You betcha. NeXTstation Turbo Color? Booyah! These three classics are just part of Blake Patterson’s tricked-out technology den that’s known as the Byte Cellar — and yes, we’re seething with jealousy. Take notes, folks, because this is how it’s done. In all, the Byte Cellar currently plays home to 69 computers, video game consoles, PDA’s and other noteworthy gadgets. Need to switch between the Atari and the Amiga? Not a problem, as each system is thoughtfully laid out on a workbench that allows one to easily scoot between rigs. Even the walls bleed vintage cred with a Space Invaders motif, rare posters and hardware components from bygone eras.

Be sure to take it all in with a panorama photo that’s been linked up below, along with a complete list of the equipment currently in Blake’s collection. Regardless of whether you agree with his taste in hardware, one thing is for certain: the man must go through a lot of compressed air.

Filed under: Desktops, Misc. Gadgets, Handhelds

Blake Patterson’s Byte Cellar: the ultimate man cave for aspiring geeks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 20:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have you ever taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test? If not, you will eventually fail in a happy hour when people compare their personality-type acronyms. I took the test years ago, and have no recollection of my official personality type. ENTJ (Extroverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging)? ISFP (Introverted, Sensual, Feeling, Perceiving)? No idea.

But I can tell you this: I am a WiBG digital citizen. That is my Ecosystem Type Indicator. Back to that in a minute. First, some ecosystem history.

Continue reading Editorial: when the ecosystem is the product, picking a favorite isn’t easy

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software

Editorial: when the ecosystem is the product, picking a favorite isn’t easy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just as you’ve cozied up with “Tahiti” and “Cape Verde,” AMD has returned to grow its “Southern Islands” family of graphics cards with four fresh FirePros, offering up to four teraflops of graphics computing power. That spec can be found in the company’s new W9000, which is capable of four TFLOPs single precision and one TFLOP double precision with a price tag just shy of $4,000. That behemoth of a card offers 6GB of GDDR5 RAM and requires 274 watts of power. More humble members of the fam include the W8000, which has the same form-factor as the higher-end W9000, but eases back on the specs, consuming 189 watts of power and carrying a $1,599 price tag.

We had a chance to take a closer look at both cards at SIGGRAPH, and while they packed a significant amount of heft, you’ll likely never take a second look once they’re buried away in your tower rig. Fans of smaller housings (and price tags) may take notice of the W7000 and W5000, which are both considerably more compact and require less power to boot, with pricing set at $899 and $599, respectively. Those cards were also on hand for our demo, and can be seen along with the top two configs in our gallery below. You can also sneak a closer peek in the hands-on video after the break, and glance at the full specs over at our news post from earlier today.

Continue reading AMD launches its next-gen FirePro graphics card lineup, we go hands-on at SIGGRAPH (video)

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Peripherals

AMD launches its next-gen FirePro graphics card lineup, we go hands-on at SIGGRAPH (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 15:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After a brief tease earlier this summer, AMD just announced pricing and availability for its new market-leading FirePro W9000 graphics processing unit — the $3,999 GPU is available now through AMD resellers, and is compatible with Supermicro SuperWorkstations. Joining that “world’s most powerful” rig are the W8000, W7000 and W5000, which sell for $1,599, $899 and $599, respectively, and can each power six 30-inch 4K displays. Power-hungry pros will want to opt for the top-of-the-line model in order to take advantage of four TFLOPs single precision or one TFLOP double precision, along with 6 gigs of high-speed GDDR5 RAM. The W8000, on the other hand, offers 3.23 TFLOPs single precision and 806 GFLOPs double precision, followed by the W7000 with 2.4 TFLOPs / 152 GFLOPs, both with 4 gigs of RAM, along with the W5000, which packs 1.27 TFLOPs single and 80 GFLOPs double, with 2 GB of GDDR5 RAM.

Design pros with slightly more modest demands may find the FirePro A300 APU more in line with their budgets — we don’t have precise pricing to share, since third parties will ship their own configs, but terms like “entry-level” and “mainstream” make it clear that you won’t be drawing in more than a couple zeros in the checkbook to make your purchase. The integrated solution utilizes AMD’s Turbo Core tech, supports Eyefinity and Discrete Compute Offload, and can power horizontal display arrays of up to 10,240 x 1,600 pixels. You’ll find all the nitty-gritty in the pair of press releases after the break.

Update: Our pals over at HotHardware have just pushed out a review of the W8000 and W9000, but found the results to be a bit of a letdown. Hit up their post for the full skinny.

Continue reading AMD announces $4k FirePro W9000 GPU, entry-level FirePro A300 APU for CAD and graphics pros

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Peripherals

AMD announces $4k FirePro W9000 GPU, entry-level FirePro A300 APU for CAD and graphics pros originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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