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Samsung Syncmaster 191n 19" TFT LCD Monitor Review by MonkeyReview

HardwareZone reviews Shuttle XPC SN41G2 barebone

More details on Centrino platform

New rarities for our hardware museum

More rumours: Prescott and Tejas of 2004 are to be packed into new bodies

Should we expect AMD Athlon XP with 400MHz FSB in May?

DRAM eXchange: DDR & SDRAM spot prices continue to drop



Samsung Syncmaster 191n 19" TFT LCD Monitor Review by MonkeyReview

"The unit sports some relatively decent specs, 25ms response which seems to be the norm these days. We see a 500:1 contrast ratio and a brightness level of 250cd/m2. The contrast ratio seems to be the only real change between the 171n and the 191n in terms of screen performance. With that said, the only real difference between the two is the larger screen area, a better contrast ratio, and a few additional features which we will discuss next."

Read more at MonkeyReview.

HardwareZone reviews Shuttle XPC SN41G2 barebone

"The Shuttle XPC SN41G2 SFF PC is based on the Flex ATX form factor, which is the reason for its miniature footprint. The system is extremely light due to its aluminum construction; not to mention it looks smart too."

Read on more about it in their in-depth review.

More details on Centrino platform

Today at a press conference in Tokyo Intel shed some more light on the Centrino platform to be announced. Though the main information flow is expected in March at CeBIT, we can mention some interesting things today as well.

Naturally, the new Pentium M was the most interesting thing.


As we have informed before, Centrino products will have to feature three Intel’s components at once: Pentium M, Intel 855 chipset (on the photo – discrete Intel 855PM) and Pro/Wireless 2100 mini-PCI card. But this isn’t that rough – if a maker decided not to include Pro/Wireless 2100 he can’t use the Centrino logo, but he still can mention the Pentium M brand. I think many might find this enough for the beginning until Centrino reaches Pentium’s popularity. Though one might be forced to use third-party wireless solutions only in case high prices for Intel’s solution kits. We’ve already reported that some Taiwanese makers were sceptic about low notebook prices due to the cost of Centrino, however, it’s now hard to tell what’s better: to install a WLAN module without Intel’s certificate or hold on to the Centrino brand.



Intel’s Japanese branch have already informed about such Centrino features, as low-power operation, 1Mb L2 cache, etc. But what’s more interesting – that Intel intends to support new IEEE 802.11g WLAN standard, but only after its specs are finalized. Moreover, it was underlined that, most likely, the company will turn to 11b for the business sector instead of more popular 11a counting on global utilization of 11g in the future.

As for Centrino-based notebook prices, they were said to remain the on the level of existing Mobile Pentium 4-M products. For example, a typical volume model will cost 210,000 yens (about $1750) in Japan.

By the way, having been asked if Centrino is to be used in markets other than notebooks, the company gave a negative answer, though we still might see some inexpensive Centrino-based desktops in the future. And finally, Intel informed it didn´t intend to release Celeron versions of Pentium M (with smaller cache.)

Source: PC Watch

New rarities for our hardware museum

Andrew Vorobyev, the editor of our video section and creator of our hardware museum, today provided photos of recently acquired oldies.

This card below is ATI Mach Pro Turbo.



The rarity below was made by NEC...


...And this is ATI’s sound card (just imagine):


And this is Velocity 128 AGP on Riva128. It was made by STB Systems...



Andrew asked us to thank Norbert Kuperjans from ATI Europe, who sent us rarities, and our Alexander Medvedev, who brought us STB’s Riva128, having visited NVIDIA.

More rumours: Prescott and Tejas of 2004 are to be packed into new bodies

British The Inquirer, referring to undisclosed industrial sources, reported that Intel’s future Prescott and Tejas will supposedly feature new LGA 775 packages (775-pin Land Grid Array). These are cheaper than usual PGA or BGA and allows for upgrade. Such technologies are already used by IBM, for example.

Some rumours regarding chipsets. Springdale and Canterwood, yet to be announced, will be replaced by Grantsdale with ICH6 Southbridge. 865G chipset will be replaced by Grantsdale-G; 865P and 865PE – by Grantsdale-P; 845GL/GV series – by Grantsdale GL.

Source: The Inquirer

Should we expect AMD Athlon XP with 400MHz FSB in May?

A message from Taiwan, referring to undisclosed sources, informs that in May AMD plans to announce newer Barton-based Athlon XP with 400MHz FSB. The information might have leaked from AMD itself via distributor channels (all these rumours never come straight way.)

According to provisional data, the higher FSB clock speed will be the only difference. Pity, but processor clocks haven´t been disclosed yet. Despite all of the above, many makers believe the chip will appear in volumes only in Q3 about the time Athlon 64 should be announced.

As for the mobo support, first-tier manufacturers along with VIA Technologies and SiS intend to release necessary products in April.

Source: The DigiTimes

DRAM eXchange: DDR & SDRAM spot prices continue to drop

Taiwanese Economic Daily News, referring to online DRAM eXchange, reported that yesterday spot prices for 256Mbit DDR SDRAM chips reduced by another 4.1% and reached $2.87 mark, while 256Mbit SDRAM spot prices reduced by only 0.23% down to the average $3.41. So, you can see that 256Mbit DDR chips are becoming noticeably cheaper than 256Mbit SDRAM ones.

Though analysts believe the period of peculiar SDRAM deficit comes to the end. Most short-term orders from Europe and North America have already been performed, according to DRAM eXchange. Observers think it’s time for smooth demand reduction that might change only in case of component deficit for remaining Intel SDRAM chipsets.

Source: The DigiTimes

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