Hasta La Gadget!

You’ve read about it, maybe even dreamed about it in your fantasies of a Microsoft Pink smartphone drizzled with Zune media. Now we’ve got Tegra taking center stage at Computex with a dozen “mobile internet devices” powered by the Tegra processor, the “world’s smallest and lowest power computer-on-a-chip” according to NVIDIA. Of notable importance, the latest Tegra press release contradicts the Mobinnova Elan release by claiming 1080p video playback is supported by Tegra, not just 720p. Something we saw for ourselves (and had confirmed by NVIDIA) during our hands-on with the Elan.

Now, get this; NVIDIA is using the term MID unlike Intel uses MID even though the terminology is of Intel origin. Instead of referring to handheld devices for consumers, NVIDIA’s MIDs are classed as Tegra-based netbooks and tablets. In other words, the 8.9-inch Elan is a MID. Ugh.

Semantics aside, the platform is smokin’ hot with promise offering the following benefits:

• 25 days of music or 10-hours of 1080p video playback on a single charge
• video games play at up to 46 frames per second
• GPU accelerated Adobe Flash animations (huzzah for Hulu!)
• always-on processors for instant access to the network
• 3G, WiFi, and WiMax solutions support

Great on paper, but still not available for purchase. Rest assured, we’ll be hands-on with more Tegra devices on the quick.

Update: Tegra devices are expected to land before 2009 is through, priced around $200 or less with carrier subsidies.

Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops

NVIDIA unveils 12 Tegra devices, 25 days of music or 10 hours of 1080p video on single charge (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 04:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just because you’re timid and demure doesn’t mean your laptop has to be. Alienware’s M17x “All Powerful” gaming rig with option for twin GTX 280 GPUs is now up for grabs on Dell’s retail site. While the base configuration starts at $1,799, we went ahead and priced it fully loaded just for kicks. As such, our rig is stuffed with a 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme Quad QX9300 (“the most powerful mobile processor in the world” according to Dell), Vista Ultimate, dual GTX 280M running in SLI, the 1920×1200 WideUXGA LCD panel, 8GB of 1333MHz DDR3 memory, and a pair of 256GB SSDs for 500GB of RAID 0 storage, slot-loading Blu-ray combo drive, and ExpressCard ATSC tuner with remote. The damage? $5,587. Who says gaming doesn’t kill?

Update: NVIDIA has confirmed that this monster exists.

Filed under: Gaming

Alienware’s ‘All Powerful’ M17x gaming rig with dual GTX 280M graphics ready to frag your savings originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We had a hunch that Computex would be a massive show for NVIDIA, and while we already caught a glimpse of what the GPU manufacturer had in store, we had no idea it’d come out with guns this big a-blazin’. Showing absolutely no mercy for those other integrated graphics sets of the world, NV’s today unveiled 21 new Ion-based products in Taiwan, with all but a handful being completely unheard of. Of course, there’s the AspireRevo, Ion 330 and IdeaPad S12, but outside of that select few, everything else is all new. Asus is introducing its C2N7A-I motherboard and all-in-one Eee Top ET2002, Colorful is busting out its iHTPC, ECS is pushing out a new desktop and MSI is showcasing its Windtop AE201. And that’s just to name a few. Hop on past the break for the full spill, and don’t stray too far — we’ll be out and about grabbing hands-on time with as many of these as we can track down.

Continue reading NVIDIA strikes gold with Ion: 21 new products at Computex

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

NVIDIA strikes gold with Ion: 21 new products at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew it was coming, and come it did. Over in Taiwan today, ASUS was demonstrating its motherboard-incinerating Mars graphics card, which it proudly deemed “the world’s fastest.” In fact, the card packs 21 percent more power than a reference GeForce GTX 295 card, and the eight-heatpipe cooling solution keeps things at least a notch below molten. We found that the card will actually be sold in some capacity, though only 1,000 of them — all of which will be individually numbered — will be made available. Two more looks after the break.

Continue reading ASUS Mars GPU hands-on at Computex

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

ASUS Mars GPU hands-on at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen some pretty weird stuff in our years on this planet — heck, we’ve revived our own drenched Sony DAP by burying it in rice for 48 hours — but this is easily one of the most bizarre gizmo resurrections we’ve ever come across. As the tale goes, one valiant NVIDIA GPU owner apparently bit on a myth which suggested that a pinch of time in the oven (quite literally, might we add) would repair faulty GPUs that were throwing up oodles of vertical lines. After purchasing another GPU to replace his ailing 8800GTX, he figured he had zilch to lose and gave it a shot; lo and behold, the temporary warmth seemingly melted the solder points and healed micro-fractures that were causing the unwanted lines. We’ve yet to hear how his attempt at returning the new GPU went, but hey, there’s always eBay. Give the read link a look if you’re still in disbelief.

[Via Digg]

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

NVIDIA GPU resurrected after 10 minutes at 425°F originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 May 2009 21:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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