Whilst we are firmly in 2010 we haven’t forgotten about last year’s phenom, the SSD. And neither have manufacturer OWC, who have just released their Extreme Pro SSD range, the 40 GB little brother of which retails for less than $100. OWC claim a data rate of 258MB/s for the Extreme Pro range as well as using less than 50% of the juice sucked by other SSDs. Here are the details of the OWC Extreme Pro SSD range

* SandForce Processor with full SF1200 Series 7% Over Provisioning firmware set
* Qualified for single drive and multiple drive usage.
* Sustained Sequential Read: up to 285MB/s
* Sustained Sequential Write: up to 275MB/s
* Random 4KB: Up to 50,000 IOPS
* Tier 1/Grade A Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND Flash Memory
* SATA I (1.5Gb/s) and SATA II (3.0Gb/s) supported, SATA 2.6 Compliant
* Security - Chip Based Data Encryption: 128-bit AES-compliant
* 2.5″ Industry Standard Hard Drive
* 80 grams +/- 2 grams
* 100.12mm x 70.06mm x 9.45mm

The write data rate of the Extreme Pro is significantly higher than any other similarly priced SSD we’ve looked at, e.g. the Intel X25-M. So it looks as if the consumer is getting some SSD joy at last courtesy of OWC and their Extreme Pro SSD range.

If you’re keen to grab one, check them out at the OWC website.

Toshiba have a 11.6 inch netbook out there, perhaps the most surprising thing about the T215D-S1140 is the 1.7GHz AMD Athlon II Neo processor. That’s right, it’s not an Atom processor. Here are the rest of the numbers on the Toshiba Satellite T215D-S1140

* 1.7GHz AMD Athlon II Neo
* 2GB RAM
* 250GB hard drive
* No Optical Drive
* 11.6 inch 1,366×768 res display
* ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 graphics
* 3.3 pounds
* 0.7 x 11.2 x 8.2 inches
* Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

Here’s some marketing speak from Toshiba on the unit

Take off where netbooks leave off with the affordable Toshiba T215D laptop with 11.6-inch screen (model T215D-S1140), Toshiba’s thinnest and lightest Satellite model yet. Offering the performance, flexibility and functionality you expect in a standard-sized laptop but in a highly portable and efficient package, this T215D features a power-efficient AMD mobile processor and a number of energy saving enhancements that deliver up to 5.15 hours of battery life.

Computer Shopper have done a full review of the T215D laptop and gave it an 8.7 rating claiming the processor speed, HDMI port, full-size keyboard as pluses whilst perhaps much more importantly battery life or lack of as a negative.

There’s also a customer review over at Amazon which generally cites similar pros and cons as Computer Shopper.

The T215D-S1140 is available at Amazon for $468.

With the digital world slowly becoming three dimensional, it’s no surprise you can now get your mits on a 3D gaming desktop. Perhaps what is surprising is the base model’s price tag of $1489. Digital Storm are the cool manufacturer bringing you this delicious dollop of 3D at such a mouth-watering price. They’ve knocked up a large range of machines to choose from but we’ll concentrate on that base model.

* AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Black Edition (2.8GHz) (6 Core) (6 MB Cache) AM3 Socket
* Gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3 (AMD 790X Chipset) (SATA3 and USB 3.0) (Socket AM3)
* 4GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
* 500W Digital Storm Certified
* 1x 500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM)
* DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
* High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
* 1x NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 1GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
* Integrated Motherboard Audio
* Standard Factory Heat-sink and Fan
* Standard Factory Chassis Fans
* Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
* !PROMO BUNDLE: NVIDIA 3D Vision Kit (Asus 23 inch 120Hz VG236H + NVIDIA 3D Glasses)

A nice set of features and specs associated with that $1489 price tag. Of course the model can be configured pretty much however you want it to be and more expensive models include three 23 inch monitors.

For more information on Digital Storm’s 3D machines stroll on over to their website.

With standard SSDs not within a good price range yet, Seagate have decided to offer a half-step upgrade. They’ve released the Momentus XT, a hybrid SSD/traditonal spinning HDD. All models offer 4GB of SLC NAND SSD memory which the unit uses if it thinks using SSD would benefit the user. This clever trickery is performed by the Momentus XT’s Adaptive Memory technology.

Adaptive Memory technology enables the drive to tailor performance to the user. Whether you are gaming, editing digital media or crunching numbers, performance is optimized and ready for your next move.

The Momentus XT sports three capacities of spinny HDD, namely, 250, 320 and 500 GB which rotate at 7,200 RPM. Here are the rest of the details on the Seagate Momentus XT.

* Model Number ST92505610AS/ST93205620AS/ST95005620AS
* Interface SATA 3Gb/s
* Cache 32MB
* Capacity 250GB/320GB/500GB
* Areal density (avg) 394Gb/in2
* Height 9.7mm (0.378 in)
* Width 70.10mm (2.76 in)
* Length 100.55mm (3.959 in)
* Weight (typical) 105g (.227 lb)
* Spin Speed 7200 RPM
* Average latency 4.17ms
* Random read seek time 11ms
* Random write seek time 13ms
* I/O data transfer rate 300MB/s

The hybrid Momentus XT seems like a great idea to us, opening up SSD benefits to users for good prices, with the 250GB model available at Amazon for $118. Of course if you have already invested in the Momentus XT do let us know what you think.

Amazon Prices

250GB - ST92505610AS - $118
320GB - ST93205620AS - $126
500GB - ST95005620AS - $135

MSI have a CULV in their current notebook lineup, namely the X420. We haven’t seen much action on the CULV front these days, but the manufacturers still churn out the odd one. The X420 lacks an internal optical drive but of course this reduces the unit’s weight and size with it scoring a 0.95 inches on the width front. Here are the rest of the details on the MSI X420 notebook

* Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor SU7300 1.3GHz 800 MHz 3MB Cache
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
* 14″ WXGA / Glossy Type 1366×768 display
* ATI Radeon HD5430 1GB DDR3
* Internal Speaker ×2
* 4GB (2GB x 2) DDR2
* 500GB SATA HDD
* Gigabit Ethernet
* Built-in 802.11b/g/n
* Bluetooth
* 2 in 1 (SD/ MMC) Card Reader
* 1.3 MP Webcam
* USB 2.0 X 2
* Graphics Card Output (15-pin, D-Sub) X 1
* Mic-in X 1, Headphone X 1
* Battery Pack 8 cells
* 13.79″ (L) x 9.22″ (W) x 0.95″ (H)
* 4.5 lbs with (8-cell battery)

Some good specs on the MSI X420, but with an Amazon price tag of $695 we think it just misses the mark. PCMag agrees with us giving the X420 a three out of five stating old tech CPU and memory mis-management as negatives yet battery life, size and weight were all in favour of the X420. The unit gains a 7.5 editor’s rating at Computer Shopper where concerns were expressed over performance again yet the switchable graphics option and weight were considered positives.

If you happen to have an X420 from MSI then let us know what you think.

HP have added a new model to their Mini 210 netbook range with the 1142CL. The unit sports over 9 hours of battery life from its 6-Cell lithium-ion battery and has a 10.1 inch WSVGA LED display. Here are the full details on the latest HP Mini 210.

* Product Number XA523UA#ABA
* 1.66GHz Intel Atom Processor N455
* 1GB DDR3 System Memory (1 DIMM) max
* Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150
* 250GB (7200RPM) HDD
* Multimedia Drive
* 10.1” diagonal WSVGA HP BrightView Infinity LED Display (1024 x 600)
* Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN
* 802.11b/g/n WLAN connectivity
* HD Audio
* stereo speakers
* integrated microphone
* 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards
* 3 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
* 1 VGA (15-pin)
* 1 RJ -45 (LAN)
* 1 Headphone-out/Microphone-in combo jack (compatible with 3.5mm 4-conductor jack with stereo audio and mono mic)
* 10.55 in (L) x 6.9 in (D) x 0.9-1.11 in (H)
* 2.99 lbs
* 6-Cell 66.6WHr Lithium-Ion Battery

The upgrading of the Mini 210 from HP shows the competitiveness of the netbook market. If you want to win you’ve can’t afford to fall behind, as each manufacturer tries to squeeze more bang for buck from their models. The 1142CL Mini 210 will set you back $370 (list price) and certainly sports the features you’d expect from a new netbook.

We could only find one online review of this new Mini 210 over at PC Mag where they gave the 1142CL 3.5 stars out of 5. They stated a dodgy touchpad, badly placed memory slots and its looks as negatives whilst the Mini 210’s fast HDD, large battery and competitive pricing as positives.

If you have managed to have a play with HP’s latest Mini 210 do let us know what you think of it.

Today we took a look at desktops and came cross the new DX4840 range from Gateway. The DX4840 sports i3 or i5 processors, Windows 7 and at least 4GB of memory. Here are the specs on the DX4840-02e model

* Intel® Core™ i5-650 Processor2 3.2GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.46GHz (4MB L3 Cache)
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
* 4096MB DDR3 Dual-Channel 1333MHz Memory
* Expandable to 8GB
* 640GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive
* Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator HD
* 16X DVD+/-R/RW Super Multi Drive
* High Definition Audio with 5.1-channel Surround Support
* Available Expansion Slots 1 - PCI-E x16, 2 - PCI-E x1, 1 - PCI
* Dimensions (System) 16.23″ (H) x 7.09″ (W) x 16.27″ (D) or 412.24mm (H) x 180mm (W) x 413.2mm (D)
* Gateway® FHX2300 23″ Widescreen LCD Display (1920 x 1080 resolution & 16:9 Aspect Ratio)
* External Ports (10) USB 2.0 ports (4 Front, 6 Rear), VGA, (2) PS/2 Ports, HDMI™, (3) Audio Ports
* Multi-in-One Digital Media Card Reader with Photo Frame Button
* 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)
* 25 lbs. (11.3 kg)

It also rocks in at $800 which isn’t a bad price for a desktop with all these features. We managed to find one review for you to check the full deal on the Gateway DX4840-02e over at PC Mag where they gave it a 4 out of 5, quoting integrated graohics and bloatware are negatives whilst on the upside were the machine’s performance and included monitor.