Hasta La Gadget!

What, what? Core i5? What’s that? In short, that’s the response we got when prodding for details on this here motherboard at CeBIT, but sure enough, the object you see above just might be the first mainboard shown off designed to play nice with Intel’s forthcoming Core i7 lite[TM]. The Gigabyte GA-IBP will reportedly be available to purchase around July, which — coincidentally enough — is right when we’re expecting the Core i5 chips to make their debut on the market. The on-hand Gigabyte rep wouldn’t talk about specifics, noting that most everything about this board was still under NDA; when we strolled into Intel’s hall, we were flat told that no Core i5 prototypes were available here in Hannover. At any rate, you can count on at least one motherboard to use on your next mid-range gaming rig, and you can peek that very board in the gallery below.

Filed under: Desktops

Gigabyte shows off GA-IBP Core i5 motherboard at CeBIT originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There it is, folks — the BeBook 2. We knew Endless Ideas was bringing its next-generation BeBook to CeBIT, but we had no idea it’d be this well under wraps. We chatted with the company’s CEO and managing director a bit about the direction of the BeBook as a whole, and they’re very much believers in keeping format support wide open and giving readers the choice of where to pull content from. We were blessed with a few minutes of hands-on time with the new and improved e-reader, and while the software was still not finalized (thus our inability to photograph it more), we were impressed with what we saw.

The next iteration of the BeBook should be a serious contender in the e-reader market, particularly in Europe where Amazon’s Kindle has yet to invade. The inclusion of WiFi and 3G is a good move (great move, actually), as those two additions open up all sorts of possibilities that non-connected readers simply can’t access. As for the device itself? We’re digging it. The build quality felt remarkably sturdy, the aesthetics were beautiful and the thinness was certainly notable. The e-ink display has also stepped up the greyscale level from the original BeBook, and battery life should remain the same despite not being as bulky. As you can tell, the screen also supports doodling, and it tracked inputs as well as we could’ve hoped. We still couldn’t pry out a price, but you can be on the lookout for this to drop worldwide somewhere in the Q3 to Q4 2009 time frame.

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

BeBook 2 e-reader revealed and in the wild at CeBIT 2009! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask Engadget is back this week with yet another thoughtful reader-submitted question, and if you’d like your own inquiry to get some face time, just send one in to ask at engadget dawt com. Without further adieu, we’ll let Zach take it from here:

“So I need some extra storage because I’ve been going a little iTunes “crazy” lately and have been downloading gigabytes of albums, podcasts and movies. I’m looking for a reliable hard drive but at the same time, price is a key factor considering not a lot of money is available at the moment. I’m thinking 100GB or more should suffice. I don’t want to get roped into buying a crappy hard drive and have it die on me a week after using it. What’s the best one out there for around $100 or less? Thanks!”

We’ll go out on a limb here and assume he’s looking for USB 2.0 (sorry, FireWire 400), so let loose those opinions!

Filed under: Ask Engadget, Storage

Ask Engadget: Best external hard drive under $100? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Although it’s not the first 512GB 2.5-inch SSD we’ve heard of, A-DATA’s latest solid state drive is still in a rare class. We stopped by its booth today to see if the unit was on hand for CeBIT, and sure enough, there she was. We took a few shots and put ’em down below — you know, just in case you don’t have the nerve to dissect your next SSD-equipped laptop.

Filed under: Storage

A-DATA 2.5-inch 512GB XPG SSD eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A number of you bemoaned the fact that MSI’s WindBOX lacked an oh-so-necessary HDMI port, so maybe the better option for you is an LCD mounted Eee Box 206. Yep, the HD-minded mini PC was set up here in Hannover, with one of the units hosted up nicely on the rear of a flat-panel monitor. The fit was flush and the connections were easily accessible, so those looking for a nice, if not underpowered media center should definitely give this one a glance. Speaking of glances, you do cast some right now in the gallery below.

Filed under: Desktops

HDMI-equipped ASUS Eee Box 206 eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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