Desktops -- Engadget

Apple's iMac (early 2009) dissected beautifully

by Darren Murph posted Mar 5th 2009 at 9:01AM

As we saw when comparing the uncovered internals of the old MacBook Pros to the new MacBook Pros, there ain't much different inside of these new iMac machines. Still, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to share ifixit's glorious splaying of Apple's freshest all-in-one Mac. As we've come to expect, these guys used only the best tools and the best lighting to shoot the dissection, and the whole thing is seriously bordering on artistic. Tap the read link for more pictorial delight as well as a ridiculous amount of detail covering what they found within.

Windows Vista and Server 2008 SP2 Release Candidates now available to download

by Ross Miller posted Mar 5th 2009 at 8:18AM

That Windows Vista / Server 2008 Service Pack 2 that hit Release Candidate status last week? You can now download and try for yourself, should you feel inclined and not patient enough to wait for the final version that's rumored for sometime this quarter. It's available for Vista x86 and x64 platforms and Server 2008 in x86 / x64 / IA64 varieties. Of course, anyone keeping this in tuned to the going-ons at Redmond probably already installed Windows 7 beta, but if you kept Vista and want Bluetooth 2.1 support and the ability to record data to Blu-ray discs, now's your chance.

Read - Windows Blog announcement
Read - Download Service Pack 2 RC

MSI WindBOX dismounts LCD, acts all proper at CeBIT

by Darren Murph posted Mar 5th 2009 at 7:58AM

Despite the fact that MSI's Atom-powered WindBOX is meant to ride your monitor while providing all the computing power it can handle, the employees at the company's CeBIT booth felt it more proper in public to simply leave it laying out front. Though we were a touch dismayed, this choice did give us a better opportunity to shoot it from all angles, and we must say, this sucker is pretty thin. We're still hearing that MSI is aiming this more at enterprise customers rather than mainstream consumers, but there's nothing you can't buy if you know the right channels. Peep the gallery for more of this awkward, dismounted nettop.

Gallery: MSI WindBOX dismounts LCD, acts all proper at CeBIT

Lian-Li's "Burj Al Arab" PC-888 chassis eyes-on

by Darren Murph posted Mar 5th 2009 at 7:21AM

We didn't set out to find Lian-Li's Burj Al Arab-in-PC-case-form at CeBIT (okay, we did, so sue us), but the best part of finding the PC-888 wasn't the case itself. Rather, it was the fellow who spotted it just behind us for the first time ever. We can't replicate in words the amount of glee in his voice, as he obviously has spent at least one night in Dubai's most iconic hotel. Needless to say, we're guessing he left Hannover with one of these in his checked bag.

Gallery: Lian-Li's "Burj Al Arab" PC-888 chassis eyes-on

MSI Wind NetOn AP1900, Wind Top AE line eyes-on

by Darren Murph posted Mar 5th 2009 at 2:56AM

Ready for more MSI? Good. Just in case the flurry of other new gear from the company has yet to tickle your fancy, how's about a smattering of all-in-one PCs? The Wind NetOn AP1900 was on hand in Germany, as was the Wind Top AE1900, AE2010, AE2200. Straight up, we weren't particularly fond of any of 'em, with the enclosures looking downright shoddy from a few feet away. Maybe the design team has been too wrapped up in the X-Slim family to care about these guys, huh? On the plus side, the touchscreen on the Wind Top AE1900 was super responsive, but we know you'll only use it for the first ten or so seconds of ownership before reverting back to the tried-and-true mouse / keyboard tandem. The whole lot is shoved down there in the gallery!

Gallery: MSI Wind NetOn AP1900, Wind Top AE line eyes-on

MSI Wind NetTop CD130 eyes-on

by Darren Murph posted Mar 4th 2009 at 9:31PM

MSI's Wind NetTop CD130 was quietly introduced at the tail end of CES this year, and if you're suspecting that it's simply a cousin of the NetTop D130, you'd be right. We caught two of the boxes on hand at CeBIT, both of which were sporting a dual-core Atom processor and one of which was entirely more colorful than the other. Supposedly, these things only draw around 40 watts of power, but don't expect to do anything other than process Word documents, surf the web and send email with any amount of haste. Per usual, you'll find more images just there in the gallery.

Gallery: MSI Wind NetTop CD130 hands-on

MSI showcases new Blu-ray-equipped Wind Box DE200, we go hands-on

by Darren Murph posted Mar 4th 2009 at 4:08PM

MSI hasn't made a big fuss about it, but the Wind Box DE200 is new for CeBIT 2009. The unit seems to be the bigger brother of its Wind Box DC100, and while we're stoked about the optional Blu-ray player, we're seriously doubting that the listed Celeron M 550 (2GHz) is the only CPU available. The unit also comes loaded with NVIDIA's GeForce 9400M GPU, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB hard drive, 802.11n WiFi, HDMI and DVI outputs, Windows Vista Home edition, a multicard reader, audio in / out, Ethernet, a few USB 2.0 ports and an overly glossy enclosure. We've no pricing or release information to share just yet, but you can peek a few more angles down in the gallery below.

Gallery: MSI showcases new Wind Box DE200, we go hands-on

MSI Winki eyes-on: it's an instant-on OS, but for desktops

by Darren Murph posted Mar 4th 2009 at 1:39PM

MSI did a laudatory job this morning baffling us with its Winki release, but we managed to find an exceptionally kind, English-speaking representative at its CeBIT booth today who broke it down for us. In short, Winki is MSI's new instant-on operating system. It's Linux-based, and looks a heck of a lot more elaborate than the HyperSpace instant-on OS that we toyed with in January. The kicker is that at least for now, this thing is only for desktops, as it's actually built into a small module (shown above) that plugs directly into an MSI motherboard. At first, only select mainboards will come bundled with Winki, but it just might roll out across MSI's entire mobo line. The dame we spoke with wouldn't divulge any details on whether this OS would ever come to its wide-ranging laptop line, but we suspect it will in due time. Winki provides easy access to IM services, Skype and the internet, which is a shortcut to Doom away from being all the true gamer needs in life, anyway.

Gallery: MSI Winki hands-on: it's an instant-on OS, but for desktops

ASUS rolls out HD-minded Eee Box 206

by Donald Melanson posted Mar 4th 2009 at 12:59PM

ASUS first got official with its upgraded Eee Box 206 way back in December, but the nettop is just now finally rolling out into availability (in the UK, at least), and bringing with it a number of more HD-friendly features. That, of course, includes an HDMI port, and some ATI Radeon HD 3450 graphics to ensure that your HD videos play without a hitch, though serious gaming is certainly still a bit of a stretch. Otherwise, you can expect the usual 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive (plus 10GB of ASUS' Eee online storage service), a fairly generous complement of ports (including DVI) and, of particular note, a total power consumption of just 20 watts. Still no official word on a release 'round here, it seems, but folks in the UK can pick this one up now in their choice of black or white for £310, or just under $440.

iMac (early 2009) unboxing and hands-on

by Nilay Patel posted Mar 4th 2009 at 11:40AM

Just like the new Mac mini, the new iMac is the externally the same apart from the terribly sad swap of FireWire 400 for an additional USB port and the addition of mini DisplayPort, but inside things have been updated all around. We're busy putting this 2.93GHz bad boy to the test as we speak, but in the meantime check out the unboxing below -- and let us know if you find the tiny new keyboard super-cute or super-ridiculous, we're on the fence.

Gallery: iMac (Early 2009) unboxing and hands-on

AMD announces GLOBALFOUNDRIES spin-off, forgets to name it something awesome

by Paul Miller posted Mar 4th 2009 at 11:13AM

AMD's finally dumped its fabrication facilities and technology onto a new spin-off brand, as expected. ATIC (Advanced Technology Investment Company) is on board as well, and the newly-formed GLOBALFOUNDRIES has $6 billion in investments to start out with, along with 2,800 employees. GLOBALFOUNDRIES will be primarily be building chips for AMD, just like usual, but will also be open to other gigs as a 3rd party chip builder -- its main rival TSMC just scored a deal with Intel to produce Atom chips on the cheap, a first for Intel who usually keeps production and processes in-house. First up for the new company? Churning out a 32nm process. We like the sound of that.

Apple Mac mini (GeForce 9400M) unboxing and hands-on

by Joshua Topolsky posted Mar 4th 2009 at 10:17AM

Sure, it may not look too different on the outside (save for that Mini DisplayPort jack and copious USB 2.0 slots), but the Mac mini is all... newish. Two variations of the tiny desktop just hit the doorstep here, and we're going to be putting them into a few use cases to see how much they sweat, but until that goes down, check out the unboxing and hands-on pics below!

Gallery: Apple Mac mini (GeForce 9400M) unboxing and hands-on

MSI teases Winki, the internet device without an operating system -- that runs Linux

by Tim Stevens posted Mar 4th 2009 at 7:48AM

Okay, see if you can wrap your head around this one: MSI has announced a new device designed to simplify peoples' internet experiences by cutting out all the extraneous stuff, presenting a clean, decidedly OS X-like interface to commonly used apps. It's the same sort of skin we've seen applied many a Linux-powered device before, but MSI has taken the unusual decision to call this a "new internet interactive device without an operating system." We're not sure if that's supposed to be a subtle dig to the Linux community or just marketing misinformation, but, regardless, the device (which MSI has yet to reveal) will ship with a number of web-related tools like Firefox for browsing, Pidgin and Skype for chatting, and other apps for browsing media and whatnot. No word on whether users will be able to install their own apps, and if so what happens when they run out of room on that not-a-dock, but we are certain of one thing: this is clearly the cutest name for a non-OS device of all time.

[Via I4U News]

Xandros announces Presto! instant-on Linux distro

by Nilay Patel posted Mar 4th 2009 at 6:56AM

We've always had a thing for instant-on OS environments like SplashTop, and now Xandros is looking to bring that concept to every laptop with Presto!, a new Linux distro that's said to boot in "seconds." The idea isn't so much to replace Windows as it is to supplement it -- you select between Windows and Presto at boot, you'll still have access to all your files, and you can even uninstall Presto from Add / Remove programs. Not a bad way to get your Linux feet wet, and Presto seems like it's pretty functional as well: Xandros already powers the Linux Eee PCs, and it sounds like Presto will run decently on similarly low-powered / older hardware. The stock install comes with Firefox, Skype, a media player and office suite, but Xandros is working on an app store, so you should have lots of other options soon. Sounds promising -- we'll see how it goes when the beta's released on March 16.

[Via GadgetMix]

Apple morning roundup, few Mac products left unscathed

by Paul Miller posted Mar 3rd 2009 at 5:20PM

Apple let loose a flurry of minor product revisions this AM, bumping internals on the Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro and MacBook Pro -- even the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule networking products got spruced up, while the Apple Keyboard got its numpad lopped off. It was one crazy morning. Check it all out below.

The best:

	Apple debuts new iMacs, including cheaper 24-incher Apple just announced new 24-inch and 20-inch iMacs, with some friendlier pricing and Mini DisplayPort video out.		Apple announces Nehalem-based Mac Pro Apple has announced a new Nehalem based Mac Pro with a starting price of $2,499.
	Apple refreshes Mac mini lineup with GeForce 9400M graphics We suppose the expected five USB ports will be a boon for homebuilt RAID enthusiasts, and the Mini DisplayPort and DVI plugs make for some nice dual monitor support.		Apple axes the numeric keypad on iMac's standard wired keyboard Apple has swapped out the standard wired Apple Keyboard for a new model lacking a numeric keypad.