Archive for February, 2010

MSI launch CR600 laptop

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

MSI CR600-234US laptop

MSI have just cranked out a bunch of new laptops for your perusal. There are three new models in the CR620 range, but we shall take a look at the latest addition to the CR600 range, the CR600-234US model. The new CR600 is powered by an Intel Dual-Core T5400 processor, managed by Windows 7 Home Premium and has a 16 inch LCD display. Other snazzy features include an HDMI output, brushed aluminium touchpad and built-in webcam and microphone. The full details on the CR600-234US are as follows

* Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core T4500 2.3GHz 800 MHz FSB Processor
* Windows 7 Home Premium OS
* Black or Silver options
* 16 inch 1366 x 768 res WXGA LCD 16:9 display
* GeForce 8200M G GPU
* 1W x 2 internal speakers
* 3 GB memory
* 320 GB SATA HDD
* DVD Super Multi Optical drive
* 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet LAN connection
* 802.11b/g/draft n WLAN Card built-in
* 4 in 1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/XD)
* 1.3 MP webcam
* 3 x USB 2.0 outputs
* VGA, HDMI output
* Headphone, Mic-in, Line-in ports
* 14.73 x 9.73 x 0.63 – 1.18 inches

It all sounds quite impressive to us and with price tag of $526.20 at Amazon the MSI CR600
looks very attractive indeed. As we’ve discussed a large number of laptops recently we thought we’d point out a couple of units that are just priced above the MSI CR600. For $800 Alienware’s M11x compares nicely but admittedly it’s aimed at a different market and Lenovo’s IdeaPad G560 with the same $800 price tag sports an extra 1 GB of memory over the CR600’s spec. So if you’re looking for a laptop under $600 then the MSI CR600 seems like a good option to us.

ATI Radeon HD 5450 card with three outputs

Friday, February 5th, 2010

AMD ATI Radeon HD 5450

AMD have just unleashed a cheap graphics card with three outputs, DirectX 11 and OpenGL 3.2 support. The ATI Radeon HD 5450 has a measly $60 price tag and will apparently

Expand your visual real estate across up to three displays and get lost in the action with ATI Eyefinity Technology.

Here are the numbers on the ATI Radeon HD 5450 graphics card

* 80 Stream Processing Units
* 8 Texture Units
* PCI Express 2.1 x16 bus interface
* DirectX® 11 support
* OpenGL 3.2 support
* Three independent display controllers – Drive up to three displays simultaneously with independent resolutions, refresh rates, color controls, and video overlays
* Display grouping – Combine multiple displays to behave like a single large display
* ATI Stream acceleration technology
* ATI CrossFireXâ„¢ multi-GPU technology
* ATI Avivo HD Video & Display technology
* Dynamic contrast enhancement and color correction
* Brighter whites processing (blue stretch)
* Independent video gamma control
* Support for H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, and Adobe Flash
* Dual-stream (HD+SD) playback support
* Integrated dual-link DVI output with HDCP14 – Max resolution: 2560×1600
* Integrated DisplayPort output – Max resolution: 2560×1600
* Integrated HDMI 1.3 output – Max resolution: 1920×1200
* Integrated VGA output – Max resolution: 2048×1536
* 3D stereoscopic display/glasses support
* Integrated HD audio controller
* Output protected high bit rate 7.1 channel surround sound over HDMI with no additional cables required
* Supports AC-3, AAC, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats
* ATI PowerPlayâ„¢ power management technology
* Certified drivers for Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP

Three independent outputs, integrated HD audio support and only for $60. We reckon the Radeon HD 5450 is a bargain in anyone’s books. Here are three reviews for you to read if you’re still not convinced from Techspot, HotHardware and LegitReviews. Admittedly HotHardware say its not a great card for gamers, but all agree if you need a card with three outputs the ATI Radeon HD 5450 is pretty hard to beat.

Source: AMD