Hasta La Gadget!

The new Mac Mini gains a Sandy Bridge processor and loses the optical drive

Along with the new MacBook Airs, Apple has also updated the Mac Mini line. Out go the year-old Core 2 Duo CPUs, replaced by 2.3GHz or 2.5GHz Core i5 (“Sandy Bridge”) chips.

Also gone is the NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics, replaced by an Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor or AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics processor, depending on the model you choose.

And out goes the optical drive, replaced by… Nothing. If you have a silver disk you need to access, you’ll either have to buy an external drive or pop it into the DVD tray of a Mac or PC on the same network.

Normally I’d say good riddance, especially as you can fill the leftover space with both a 750GB HDD and a 256GB SSD in the same enclosure. But as many Mac Minis are used as home media servers, it was always convenient to be able to slot in your rented DVDs. But at least you get a Thunderbolt port, which looks to the future as much as the optical disk looks to the past.

The speedy new Mac Minis are both available now, for $600 and $800.

Mac Mini Specs [Apple]

See Also:

• Your Next Mac: Slim Unibody Mac Mini With HDMI
• IFixit Breaks Into New Mac Mini, Takes Photos

Is it just us or do all-in-ones seem to be having a moment? Over the past two months, we’ve seen Toshiba make a belated jump into the market, while Lenovo went and added one to its family of Think-branded laptops and desktops. And that’s not even counting models by old-timers like Apple, Dell, and MSI. And then there’s HP, which has been making touchscreen all-in-ones for three years — long before they were a thing. The company’s had plenty of time to fine-tune its finger-friendly TouchSmart software, and now, its newest model, the TouchSmart 610 ($899 and up), ushers in a fresh design, highlighted by a hinge that allows the display to slide down and lie nearly flat. Although it’s been shipping since this spring, it’s only been available with Sandy Bridge for about a month now. We took one of these tricked-out beasts into our living room and got reacquainted with the comforts of not-so-mobile computing. At the risk of spoiling everything, we think this should be on your shortlist if you’re considering an all-in-one, especially one with a big ‘ol touchscreen. Read on to find out why.

Continue reading HP TouchSmart 610 review

HP TouchSmart 610 review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Lest you think the desktop is an endangered species, HP, at least, begs to differ. The company just unveiled three of ’em: the Pavilion p7, Slimline s5, and the Pavilion HPE h8 — all festooned with black finishes, rounded edges, sliding port covers, and metallic panels designed to blend in with the electronics already populating your living room. Of the three, the p7 is the most mainstream, with a non-threatening chassis that’s about the size you’d expect a tower to be. The Slimline s5 has a similar look, but is about half the size, making it look more like a media hub. Lastly, there’s the HPE h8, whose red accents and beastlier shape mark it as the power tower it is. For the money, you’ll get discrete graphics, optional Beats Audio, and support for dual displays. The p7 and h8 go on sale May 18, starting at $299 and $599, respectively. For the petite s5, you’ll have to step up to a $329 starting price. Look for it on June 15.

Continue reading HP trots out Pavilion p7, Pavilion Slimline s5, and HPE h8 desktops

HP trots out Pavilion p7, Pavilion Slimline s5, and HPE h8 desktops originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 12:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

The new iMac comes with Thunderbolt ports

The 3.2GHz Core i3 iMac on which I am typing this post is now an old, lumbering dinosaur thanks to an update by Apple. The new iMacs use nothing but Core i5 and i7 processors, pack new graphics chips, HD cameras and not one but two (on the 27-inch model) Thunderbolt ports.

The line now maxes out with a 3.1GHz quad-core Core i5 in the 27-inch iMac (the “slowest” model has a 2.5GHz quad-core Core i5). Graphics processors run from the AMD Radeon HD 6750M (512MB) up to the AMD Radeon HD 6970M (1GB), and you get one or two Thunderbolt ports depending on the size of your machine. These ports also act as a way to hook up an external display with a Mini DisplayPort cable (up to 30 inches at 2560 x 1600 pixels).

You also get the HD FaceTime camera already seen in the new MacBook Pro. I don’t really care for this as it benefits other people when they get to see my stubbly, haggard face in hi-def. I’d rather that they bought new HD computers instead.

Otherwise, things remain the same: 4GB RAM, 1TB hard drives on all but the baby of the bunch, SD slot, FireWire 800, 4 x USB and so on.

Prices run from $1,200 up to $2,000, with the 27-inch 2.7GHz quad-core i5 — the replacement for my machine — at a sweet $1,700.

I shall hopefully show more resolve than I did when upgrading from my perfectly good iPad 1 this weekend. For those weaker souls, the new iMacs are available now.

iMac product page [Apple]

See Also:

• New Aluminum iMac: Details

Now that Commodore USA has sufficiently piqued your curiosity with a revamped Commodore 64 prototype, it’s ready to capitalize on the idea. Quite literally, we might add. $595 buys you the basic basic model with an 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Atom D525 chip, NVIDIA ION 2 graphics, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive — which it promises to deliver by “early June” — with hundred-dollar increments adding premium features like an additional 2GB of memory, a Blu-Ray drive, up to 1TB of storage, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth. However, if you’re simply looking for a compact keyboard computer (rather than reliving 80’s nostalgia) there’s another option on tap — a likely rebadged thin wedge of a machine that Commodore’s calling the VIC-Slim. Even at just $395, though, something tells us it won’t be the “wonder computer” of 2011.

Continue reading Commodore USA puts the new C64 up for pre-sales, unveils far-less-retrotastic VIC-Slim

Commodore USA puts the new C64 up for pre-sales, unveils far-less-retrotastic VIC-Slim originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Commodore USA  | Email this | Comments